LEO Weekly, August 1, 2025

THE UNIVERSITY OF VICHY

Capitulation 101

BY MARC MURPHY

Americans are famously poor at history, so things that should ring a bell often don’t. For instance, a vile populist politician rising to the top by fanning the flames of racism, supported by a party serving only the cruel and the wealthy. A Supreme Court that cedes its authority to a lawless tyrant. A press that stops holding the other three Estates accountable.

And universities, becoming mere appendages to state power.

With some exceptions the lessons students will learn in America when they return to campus this fall are from a course catalog filled with titles like Unnecessary Capitulation, Intro to Rationalization, and Advanced Whitewashing and devoid of the truth, courage, or commitment to the entire reason universities exist in the first place. The list of schools surrendering to demands made by the President and MAGA grows daily and includes (previously) highly respected institutions like Columbia, Cal, Penn, and Virginia. David Cole, a professor of law at Georgetown University and the former national legal director of the ACLU described Columbia’s ongoing surrender, for example, as a sacrifice of “principle to the coercive power of the federal government’s purse”. He was being kind.

At Virginia the university’s president bowed to Department of Justice pressure over diversity efforts and resigned without a fight, even though the UVA governing board had already waved a giant white *pun intended* flag and dissolved its DEI office back in March. Who is advising these cowering university presidents and boards? Each of these universities have law schools. Within those law schools are lawyers who’ve committed their professional careers to understanding the law and the Constitution. Scholars who know that there are – that there have to be – limits upon the President’s authority and upon the DOJ’s and Department of Education’s blunt exercise of that authority – and because the study of law is also the study of history, that overreach by the Executive, left unchallenged, is anti-Constitutional, potentially fatal to the Republic, and a death sentence to large groups of people. As a matter of fact, challenging overreach and illegality is fundamental to the development and protection of the Rule of Law itself. If not, what are they teaching their students? More importantly, what lessons are the students learning?

I realize this is easy for me to say. Universities and their counsel are threatened with funding

cuts and legal action and the choices are difficult. I’m not my own university’s general counsel. (As I was rudely and comically informed by a board trustee during one of our faculty senate meetings).

But just because something is easy to say doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be said: Universities serve more than their trustees and their endowments. They have duties, fiduciary or not, to their students and even to those who aren’t part of the university community per se but rely upon those institutions to put their privilege, learning, and wealth to work defending independence in classrooms and administration. Because if not there, if not at our universities, where?

The willingness of these institutions of higher learning to bend the knee to protect themselves and some misguided concept of shareholder value as if they were simply commercial businesses rather than the principles, and people, for whom they should stand – and the speed with which they are surrendering – represents a frightening unraveling of another of the important assumptions about our country that we relied upon until recently. Every day our descent into a cruel and undemocratic future quickens. Only the most uninformed or uncaring can pretend the MAGA Administration, legislatures, and their collaborators haven’t already created a country the contours of which were unthinkable even a few months ago. Some few sounded alarms but were called Chicken Littles and dismissed as unserious. Now that the sky has, in fact, fallen (it has), many Americans seem to have moved quickly through the grieving stage—if they felt grief at all—and are settling comfortably into acceptance.

Acceptance of concentration camps. Acceptance of the persecution of anyone not White and straight. Acceptance of open self-dealing in the Oval Office. Acceptance of university syllabi subject to approval by The Authorities.

The tragic irony is that we’re in a time in which our institutions of higher education are surrendering without a fight, in part because America has failed for generations to provide an honest education to its citizens. Colleges are erasing important DEI initiatives, books are being banned, and professors are being coerced into rewriting their syllabi to protect the schools from being accused of “indoctrination.” Schools have been indoctrinating students for generations, actually, hiding from them the real history of the United States. (This is not a law review article, and this is not a footnote. But, read The 1619 Project. Now they’re being asked to lie to students about things the students can see with their own eyes.

We’re in this place because a racist nation ignorant of its own real history—the history that is being whitewashed or prohibited—elected men and women who comfort rather than condemn their voters’ racism. In schools we were taught Lincoln “freed the slaves” in 1863, and we could be forgiven—having been taught virtually nothing else—for thinking that the ensuing 162 years of “freedom” should have gotten the job done, equality-wise. The same educational failures led even people who believed themselves to be well-read to declare upon the election of Barack Obama in 2008 that the United States had become “post-racial.” They were in heady company. In 2013 the Supreme Court itself began what by now is over

a decade of retreat from a crown jewel of the Civil Rights movement, the Voting Rights Act, because, of course, it’s served its purpose. Not a surprise, then, when much of White America asks, “Why is there a need for affirmative action?” Or training in diversity, equity, or inclusion? Every White person—every one of us—has heard someone say, “I never owned no slaves,” revealing how little they understood about history. And grammar. An electorate that doesn’t know where we came from has no business or ability to tell us where to go from here. And that’s exactly why education at all levels is on the MAGA bullseye: $6 billion was stripped from education in the Big Bullshit Bill just last week. Universities have many options when threatened by the president or the DOJ. Time and again universities have responded by giving in, citing valid—but not the only—important concerns. Public and private universities alike risk losing funding, generally and for important research. Wealthy private individuals and corporate donors—themselves having already bent the knee—may stop writing checks. They could face legal action from the Administration or state attorneys general. There’s a long list of risks, no doubt. And the schools also frequently justify their passiveness by arguing that to the extent their existence is threatened, they can’t risk their current students’ enrollment.

Fair, though it’s arguable that an education tainted by the coercive influence of this racist, anti-intellectual, and anti-science government isn’t worth protecting at all. Real learning requires trust. The student has to trust the professors are telling them the truth as they understand it. Without that, it’s not a true university education.

It’s a re-education camp with a Starbucks in the library.

The fact is compliance—collusion, really—also carries risks, including fundamentally a betrayal of a university’s core mission, its entire reason for being: To pursue knowledge in an untethered and honest way and pass not only that knowledge but the tools to gather it along to its students.

To serve as a lighthouse in this rapidly darkening time. Instead, so many of these schools are turning off their lamps without a fight.

In response to the Fascists in 1940, Winston Churchill said, “We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, We shall never surrender.” In response to the Fascists in 2025, universities are choosing, instead, to hide in their ivy-covered basements. The ivy down there is poison.

It’s not indoctrination to teach that White Supremacy is wrong. It’s not indoctrination to teach that America was built on the backs, lives, and futures of enslaved people. It’s not indoctrination to teach that yesterday’s wrongs— meaning both since 1619 and actually yesterday, Friday, for instance—have not been made right. Indoctrination is defined as “inculcating without or by discouraging critical analysis.” It doesn’t mean pretending every view is correct or has value. I have no interest in helping Fascists obtain law degrees, and I’m quite happy to subject that position to critical analysis.

Any college campus worth its salt carries rumors of at least a ghost or two in an old dormitory, lab, or quad. The ghosts of today’s surrenders will haunt these universities forever.

VIEWS KENTUCKY RANKS AMONG TOP STATES FOR REDUCING MATERNAL SMOKING, NEW STUDY FINDS

Bluegrass State Posts Fourth-Largest Drop in Pregnancy Smoking Rates

BY CALEB STULTZ

A recent study by the Birth Injury Lawyers Group says that Kentucky is now one of the best states in the country for making pregnancies smoke-free.

It is the fourth-best state in the country for lowering the number of mothers who smoke. The study looked at data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2016 to 2021. It found that the percentage of pregnant women in Kentucky who smoked dropped from 18.4% in 2016 to 12.7% in 2021, a drop of 5.7 percentage points.

This was one of the biggest improvements in the country during that time. The study figured out the percentage-point decline in smoking among mothers in each state to find out where pregnant women were avoiding tobacco more and more. A representative for the Birth Injury

Lawyers Group stated in a statement, “Smoking during pregnancy poses serious risks to both mother and baby, including premature birth, low birth weight, birth defects, and even pregnancy loss.”

“Every percentage-point drop means healthier pregnancies and better outcomes for babies.”

The gains in Kentucky are a result of an increasing public health effort across the state, especially in rural and low-income areas where smoking rates have historically been higher. Public health advocates credit the improvement to increased outreach, education, and better access to cessation programs integrated into prenatal care.

While Kentucky still has one of the highest overall maternal smoking rates in the nation, the study highlights that progress

is possible—and significant. Continued investment in health education, Medicaidsupported cessation therapy, and culturally appropriate outreach activities are anticipated to significantly reduce these rates in the coming years.

The study was undertaken by the Birth Injury Lawyers Group, a law practice that specializes in defending families affected by birth injuries and pregnancy-related difficulties. The organization based its conclusions on CDC maternal smoking data contained in a publicly available dataset and advocates continuous funding for evidence-based public health strategies.

For more on the study and to examine the whole dataset, visit: www.birthinjurylawyers.com.

MURDER MOST FOUL: NOTES FROM THE NIGHT I STUMBLED ON HAMLET IN CENTRAL PARK

A saga of local carnage, apparitions, summer bats and Shakespeare’s skulls.

BY CHARLIE CY

After dinner last Friday night, I took an elegant stroll to Central Park from our Old Louisville condo to clear my head.

I’d intended to go sit on a park bench beneath the monstrous trees filled with birds of prey—my partner and I particularly enjoy hunting for the Great Horned Owls—to brood and read a book my mother gifted me several years ago: Ghosts of Old Louisville. There’s a section in the book about the park’s mercurial history that I’d begun weeks earlier and planned to finish while sitting within its subject’s bowels.

It had been a long week filled with various unforeseen stresses, and I’d chosen this specific text to decompress for three key reasons:

(1) It was light reading.

(2) Several nights prior, a bat had found its way into our third-story walk-up and began doing laps around the condo, triggering panic over potential exposure to rabies; a concern aggravated by the sheer incompetence exhibited by the Norton Healthcare Audubon ER team, who negligently administered the PEP protocol (injecting both the Rabies Immune Globulin and the rabies vaccine into the same site of my left arm, which negates the effectiveness of the vaccine, while also injecting some of the RIG into both my butt cheeks: glute muscles do not absorb the RIG as effectively as other muscles, which results in lower antibody stimulation)—a protocol designed to protect me in the off chance I was infected (a story I plan to write about at length in the near future). Nevertheless, the experience seemed to lend itself to the genre of vampires and ghost stories.

(3) Our native son Jonathon Sturgeon—a writer and editor based in New York City— published an exquisitely dark and detailed “Letter from Louisville” in Harper’s June issue, entitled “Sons of Good Fathers: On some killings in Kentucky.” The piece explores, in long-form nonfiction, a short history of horrors spawned in our little enclave.

Sturgeon’s lede, “Kentuckiana is cursed,” sets the tone for a sweeping narrative that orbits his tragic connection to and context surrounding his paternal cousin, Connor Sturgeon, who murdered five colleagues (and critically injured one police officer) in the

mass shooting at the Old National Bank on April 10, 2023. And who was himself subsequently killed by LMPD.

Sturgeon’s essay is also a meditation on Kentucky’s all-powerful patriarchs (including the Beshears)—whom his mother dubs “The Daddies”—as ”well as on nepotism, the long, dismal shadow of slavery, Jim Crow, redlining in the West End, and our Commonwealth’s culture of inequality and bloodshed. Moreover, Sturgeon adroitly weaves into his narrative relevant background information surrounding Breonna Taylor’s murder and Quintez Brown’s attempted assassination of Mayor Craig Greenberg that provocatively expands on these themes.

So struck was I by Sturgeon’s bleak and nuanced depiction of our city, I began drafting a pitch to Harper’s to respond to his insider’s gaze—mainly because I fully identified with his unflinching assessments and

had not read someone do it so well.

The point being, I hoped sitting down to read Ghosts of Old Louisville would provide me with some casual fodder—i.e., grim anecdotes and fantastical myths—to incorporate into that pitch.

But I never did make it to the park bench. Little did I know where my walk would lead me…

Exiting Belgravia’s secret-garden environ, I passed the Pink Palace—a threestory Victorian mansion, once home to both a brothel and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and said to be haunted by a “Southern Gentleman” named Avery. It was here, while turning north onto the stately St. James Court, where I noticed a cluster of women carrying canvas chairs, walking towards the park.

They are headed to the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, I thought, and decided to forgo the book for a show.

For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?

Approaching Central Park’s outdoor amphitheater, abuzz with leashed canines and chattering bipedal primates, I was greeted by a smiling attendant who offered me a program. I thanked her, took a seat, and opened the booklet to see which Shakespeare play I was set to receive. To my satisfaction, and perhaps taken as an omen, there appeared the image of the iconic skull of Hamlet.

I’d arrived just five minutes before curtain. It was still bright and balmy, but the oppressive temperatures and humidity from the heat dome that throughout the week plagued much of the country—and Kentuckiana— had begun to ease.

A strong breeze blew through the trees. Neighbors lounged on quilts with their dogs, sipping hard cider, West Sixth beer, and “Players’ Punch” cocktails—a concoction of lemonade, cranberry, and lime juice,

spiked with your choice of Old Forester or Tito’s—sold at Will’s Tavern. (Will’s, named after William Shakespeare, shares its space with the Historic Old Louisville Walking Tours and Fourth Precinct LMPD station within the park).

Admittedly, I am not a Shakespeare aficionado, nor did I have time to interview anyone from the company. Therefore, what follows are but a few impromptu impressions from a layman. Nevertheless, I hope they convey some sense of how Shakespeare’s tragic, albeit universal, themes unexpectedly mirrored my own headspace at the time…

Let me begin by saying it was a riveting production, directed by Amy Attaway and edited by Gregory Maupin. If you get a chance, go.

In their unique version, set in 1960s Denmark, Prince Hamlet is played by a fiery, plotting woman—Mollie Murk—who is fantastic. In fact, each cast member was compelling: from the gravediggers (Maupin and Mary Baunjoko) to Crystian Wiltshire’s spirited Laertes, who, sporting a picked-out, period-nodding afro, kills Hamlet with a poisoned-tipped foil in a fencing duel to avenge his father’s death—only to be fatally pricked by the same blade.

The Ghost of old Hamlet, played by Tom Luce, was particularly haunting, aided by the sound crew’s ominous voice effects. Kyle Ware delivered a comic, crowd-pleasing Polonius, who is killed by Hamlet after she mistakes him for her uncle Claudius (played by Jon Huffman), upon learning Claudius killed her father to seize both the crown and the queen (played by Jennifer Pennington).

I also really enjoyed Sasha Cifuentes’ powerful performance as Ophelia, Polonius’s daughter and Hamlet’s doomed lover, who goes mad and drowns under mysterious circumstances after her father’s death and Hamlet’s rejection. As noted, this production

of Hamlet is set in the 1960s. Throughout, there are nods to the era’s apparel, aesthetics and slang—in one scene, with flowers in her hair, Cifuentes sings a dramatic soliloquy reminiscent of Joan Baez.

In another scene, a traveling troupe descends from the audience and takes to the stage—a stage literally built around Central Park trees—while performing an entire folk number. The troupe sings Shakespearean iambic pentameter in harmony while playing a banjo, tambourine, harmonica, and percussion instruments. It’s a clever flourish that lightened the Bard’s dense wordplay and played to the Kentucky crowd with Bluegrass in their veins.

During the opening acts, the audience did have to contend with sneezes from summer allergies, mosquito bites (bring spray), uncomfortable benches (bring a cushion or portable seat), un-silenced phones, chatty neighbors, and the intermittent roar of incoming UPS aircraft preparing to land, which occasionally drowned out the actors, who would pause for dramatic effect to wait for the planes to pass. But these were trivial nuisances.

“To be or not to be…”

At intermission, Matt Wallace, Kentucky Shakespeare’s Artistic Director, took to the stage to welcome the crowd and celebrate the 65th anniversary—now the longest-running non-ticketed Shakespeare festival in the country. He encouraged the attendees to support the production by visiting the food trucks, the bar, and making donations, which cast members collected directly from the audience.

Three food trucks were parked on the lawn beyond the amphitheater: Con Aji y Café (serving Colombian empanadas and arepas), Four Pegs BBQ, and the most popular at intermission— the Cookie Cabin Creamery. This truck, styled like a tiny log cabin, served

cookies, decadent-looking waffle-cone ice cream, and ice cream sandwiches.

While watching throngs of kids run wild on the new Central Park playground and audience members queue for refreshments, I checked my phone. My partner Lisa had just texted, back from running errands. I invited her to join me for the final acts.

As she arrived, the sun dipped, dusk fell and bats took to the sky, darting above us in

the dying light to feast on insects. They were a jolting reminder of our week’s earlier terror. I darkly joked, “We killed their cousin.”

Earlier that day, Lisa had us hold hands and pray for the bat – a gesture I didn’t mind, even though we’re both atheists. Pest control had plucked the bat from our crown molding while it slept peacefully perched above a large living room window, while I was busy being jabbed repeatedly with rabies shots at the ER.

The poor bat suffocated in the plastic container pest control trapped it in. Later, I delivered its limp body to the Health and Wellness lab downtown. It was sent on to Frankfort so the state could slice open its brain and test it for rabies.

It didn’t have it.

What a waste.

Life is fucking cruel.

Meanwhile, as the sky turned black, thousands of lightning bugs flew low across the park’s fields where years ago, I hallucinated on mushrooms during a snowstorm, and communed with a horde of sweet-potato-breasted robins. Now the summer fireflies’ glowing neon butts flickered across the darkened landscape like the ghosts my mother’s book warned of, while distant booms from fireworks, like bombs, thundered in the night.

Watching the final acts of Hamlet in the open air – full of betrayal, madness and death – felt oddly clarifying, even comforting. Shakespeare’s unflinching treatment of horror and the comic futility of life gave me plenty to explore in my response to Sturgeon.

Books from Charlie Cy’s travels Con Aji y Café food truck Fountain in St. James Pink Palace in Old Louisville Charlie Cy

Arts &entertainment

by aria baci

Louisville has a full spectrum of autumn colors and an even more colorful calendar of visual art exhibits, dance performances, outdoor festivals, live music, and theater. Here is LEO’s guide to some of the most brilliant arts and entertainment events in town this fall.

VISUAL ART

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3

The Veil: A Paranormal Group Art Show Grady Goods | 976 Barret Ave. | gradygoods.com

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10

Vian Sora: Outerworlds Speed Art Museum | 2035 S. 3rd St. | speedmuseum.org

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17

Otherworldly Journeys:

The Fantastical Worlds of Bosch and Bruegel Speed Art Museum | 2035 S. 3rd St. | speedmuseum.org

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6

LaVon Van Williams Jr.: Everything Must Change Speed Art Museum | 2035 S. 3rd St. | speedmuseum.org

DANCE

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10–

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11

Louisville Ballet: Dracula Brown Theatre at the Kentucky Center | 315 W. Broadway | louisvilleballet.org

FESTIVALS

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4–

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

Gaslight Festival 10434 Watterson Trail, Jeffersontown, KY | jtowngaslight.com

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6

Louisville Pride Festival Bardstown Rd. | louprideky.org

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6–

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7

The Big 4 Bridge Art Fair Big Four Lawn | 1001 River Rd. | bigfourbridgeartsfestival.com

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

Asia Institute – Crane House: Asian Night Market Fourth Street Live! | 411 S Fourth St. | crane-house.org

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

NuLu Festival

600–900 blocks of E. Market St. | nulu.org

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27–

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

Madison Chautauqua Festival of Art Madison, IN | madisonchautauqua.com

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2

Jack-O’-Lantern Spectacular Iroquois Amphitheater | 1080 Amphitheater Rd. | iroquoisamphitheater.com

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3–

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5

St. James Court Art Show 1402 St James Ct. | stjamescourtartshow.com

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4

KMAsquerade KMAC | 715 West Main St. | kmacmuseum.org

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4

USA TODAY Wine and Food Experience Waterfront Park | 129 River Rd. | wineandfood.usatoday.com

FRIDAY OCTOBER 10–SATURDAY 11

Belknap Fall Festival Douglass Loop | belknapneighborhood.org

FRIDAY OCTOBER 10–SATURDAY 11

Goatman Festival Legend at Pope Lick | 4002 S. Pope Lick Rd. | mostfunyoueverhad.com

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24

Kentucky Bat Festival

Louisville Slugger Stadium| 401 E. Main St. | secondchanceswildlife.org

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31–

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1

Dark Castle Fest

Art Sanctuary | 1433 S. Shelby St. | darkcastlefest.com

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31

Halloween on Hillcrest Hillcrest and Frankfort | hillcresthalloween.com

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15

Play was the Portal with Salamander Riff and Friends

ARTPORTAL | 1512 Portland Ave. | portal-louisville.com

MUSIC

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

Ben Folds

Whitney Hall at The Kentucky Center | 501 W. Main St. | louisvilleorchestra.org

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11–

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

Bourbon and Beyond Festival

Highland Festival Grounds at Kentucky Exposition Center | 1016 Phillips Ln. | bourbonandbeyond.com

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

Rising Appalachia

The Grand | 308 St. Clair St, Frankfort, KY | thegrandky.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

Lucy Dacus: Forever Is A Feeling Tour Louisville Palace | 625 S. 4th St. | louisvillepalace.com

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18–

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21

Louder Than Life

Kentucky Exposition Center | 937 Phillips Ln. | louderthanlifefestival.com

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

Glare with Cloakroom, Jivebomb, and Destiny Bond PORTAL | 1512 Portland Ave. | portal-louisville.com

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4

Tony Siqi Yun: Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 3

Whitney Hall at The Kentucky Center | 501 W. Main St. | louisvilleorchestra.org

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7

Rainbow Kitten Surprise: Thanks For Coming Tour

Old Forester’s Paristown Hall | 724 Brent St. | www.paristown.com

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17

Beethoven and Brahms

Ogle Center, IU Southeast | 4201 Grant Line Rd., New Albany, IN | louisvilleorchestra.org

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17

Vienna Boys Choir

The Grand | 308 St. Clair St, Frankfort, KY | thegrandky.com

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24–

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25

Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony

Whitney Hall at The Kentucky Center | 501 W. Main St. | louisvilleorchestra.org

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29–THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30

Disney’s “Hocus Pocus” in Concert

Whitney Hall at The Kentucky Center | 501 W. Main St. | louisvilleorchestra.org

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30

Jeff Tweedy: Twilight Override Tour Headliners Music Hall | 1386 Lexington Rd. | headlinerslouisville.com

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14

Damn Tall Buildings

The Grand | 308 St. Clair St, Frankfort, KY | thegrandky.com

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15

Murder By Death: Farewell Tour 2025 Old Forester’s Paristown Hall | 724 Brent St. | www.paristown.com

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21–

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22

Yuja Wang and Teddy Abrams Return Whitney Hall at The Kentucky Center | 501 W. Main St. | louisvilleorchestra.org

THEATER

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

MO5AIC

Derby Dinner Playhouse | 525 Marriott Dr., Clarksville, IN | derbydinner.com

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1

Dial “M” for Murder

Derby Dinner Playhouse | 525 Marriott Dr., Clarksville, IN | derbydinner.com

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Kentucky Shakespeare Headquarters | 616 Myrtle St. | kyshakespeare.com

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4

Spookley the Square Pumpkin: The Musical Derby Dinner Playhouse | 525 Marriott Dr., Clarksville, IN | derbydinner.com

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25

StageOne Storytellers Walden Theatre | 1123 Payne St. | stageone.org

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12

Elf: The Musical

Derby Dinner Playhouse | 525 Marriott Dr., Clarksville, IN | derbydinner.com

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15

A Velveteen Rabbit Christmas Derby Dinner Playhouse | 525 Marriott Dr., Clarksville, IN | derbydinner.com

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24–

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25

Stage One Family Theatre: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts | 501 W. Main St. | stageone.org

EAT, DRINK AND SEE IN THIS WEEK’S STAFF PICKS

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2

Hammer’s Great Backpack Giveaway Lynn Family Stadium | 3-5pm | All ages

This year, they’re bringing the energy to Lynn Family Stadium for their BIGGEST and most exciting backpack giveaway yet! From 3:00 to 5:00 PM in the BlueOval SK Fan Zone, they will distribute THOUSANDS of backpacks packed with school essentials to families and children in need. Free backpacks with school supplies, Bounce houses, super-sized games & giveaways Entertainers, chalk art, bubbles & more, Free T-shirts, Adoptable dogs & puppies from Kentucky Humane Society, Photo ops with The Hammer, Live music by WGZB, FREE tickets to that night’s Louisville City FC vs. North Carolina FC match, Uber vouchers available via the Hammer Hub App (while supplies last).

—LEO Weekly Staff

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8

MSD clAIRity Community Meeting 1600 West Hill Street | 6-7pm

clAIRity community meetings foster discussion about odor management projects to ensure community feedback helps shape MSD strategies. Attendees can ask questions, share their experiences, and hear updates on MSD efforts to reduce odors. Discussions cover factors that contribute to odor, steps MSD takes to address them, and efforts underway to reduce their impact. The public has spoken and feel that these sessions are helpful and provide you the opportunity to voice your concerns and ask questions, so take an hour out of your evening and make sure to attend their next meeting on Thursday, August 8th from 6-7pm.

—LEO Weekly Staff

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2

Made-Market: Louisville Summer Market

Melwood Art Center | 10am-5pm | All ages

Made-Market is back at the Mellwood Art Center to showcase talent! Soak up the summer vibes with us at Louisville’s favorite handmade shopping event! They’re taking over Mellwood’s premier event space with 90+ incredible makers, delicious local eats, refreshing drinks, and that unbeatable community spirit. Made Market is Louisville’s finest curated handmade market, bringing together the best of local and regional talent for one unforgettable day. Browse their full lineup of makers here: https://mademkt.com/louisville/. Grab your crew, support local artists, and make a day of it. Kids 15 and under get in free, and parking is on us! Purchase admission here: https://mademkt.com/tickets/louisville —LEO Weekly Staff

SATURDAY, AUGUST 30

Fleur de Flea Outdoor Vintage Market

Louisville Waterfront Park - Great Lawn | 10am-2pm

Join in down by the River for Fleur de Flea’s last outdoor Market of the year happening over Labor Day Weekend. Over 200 vendors selling antiques, collectables, vintage, vintage clothes and handmade. Louisvilles best food trucks and pop up bars too featuring delicious cocktails, Green River Bourbon and Country Boy Craft Beer. Event is FREE and pet friendly. Plenty of close by parking. Grab your friends and family and go treasure hunting down by the river under 64 (compete shade and nice breeze) along the scenic Ohio River. This event is one to not miss and you can make a day out of it!

—LEO Weekly Staff

SATURDAY, AUGUST 9

GrungeFest

Mercury Ballroom | 8pm

Grunge Fest featuring Seven Circle Sunrise (A Tribute to Nirvana), Hollow (A Tribute to Alice in Chains), and Creep (A Tribute to Stone Temple Pilots). The Mercury Ballroom is an all-ages, standing room venue, all tickets are General Admission unless otherwise stated. Doors open one hour prior to the event. Everyone, regardless of age including babes in arms, must purchase a ticket. Dates, times, prices and Artist are subject to change without notice. Personal cameras are allowed at the discretion of the artist. No Professional Cameras, Flash Photography, Audio or Video Recording of any kind are permitted. All sales are final. No refunds or exchanges. Tickets onsale at: https://tinyurl. com/yx4tcab9

—LEO Weekly Staff

SATURDAY, AUGUST 30

Kentucky Science Center: Dino Day Kentucky Science Center | 10am-2pm | FREE with general admission

Get ready for prehistoric fun as we celebrate all things dinosaur with family-friendly activities across three floors and 50,000 square feet of hands-on discovery. Dig into dinomite themed experiments and activities and explore paleontology-themed maker projects in our MakerPlace. Plus, experience largerthan-life dinosaurs on our 4-story digital screen with special 3D showings throughout the day of Dinosaurs of Antarctica. Bring the kids, or dino loving adults, out for a great day of fun, education, and enjoyment for all! 10AM-2PM: MakerPlace will be open! 10:30AM: Story Time 12:30PM: Atrium Demo 1:30PM: Tech Forum Show

—LEO Weekly Staff

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15

Jammin in the Jeff Presents: The Juice Box Heroes

100 W. Riverside Drive, Jeffersonville | 5pm | FREE

Jammin in Jeff season is closing out with a night packed full of high-energy hits, throwback jams, and all-out fun on the riverfront! Make sure to pack up your lawn chairs, gather your crew, and get ready to dance, sing, and celebrate the final show of the summer! Live Music Lineup:DJ Cam – Spinning one last set at 6:00 PM The Palace – Live at 7:00 PM The Juice Box Heros– Taking the stage at 8:30 PM to bring the party home! What’s on Deck:Kids Zone, Vendor Market, Game Night Market Theme, Signature Cocktails, Food Trucks, and more!

—LEO Weekly Staff

AUGUST 14-24

Kentucky State Fair

Kentucky Expo Center | 10am-2pm

The Kentucky State Fair is a time-honored tradition in the Commonwealth. With roots in agriculture and camaraderie, the fair still uses those as its backbone but has grown over its more than 120 years to even more. Over 600,000 visitors flock to the Kentucky Exposition Center annually to take part in 11 days of competition, fun, shopping, eating, dancing, and so much more. We can’t wait for you to visit! Enjoy entertainment that’s FREE with your fair admission. From the BIG Tent and Budweiser Tent to the Texas Roadhouse Concert Series and a plethora of other shows, there’s something for everyone at the Kentucky State Fair. Enjoy something for the entire family all in one place.

—LEO Weekly Staff

SUNDAY, AUGUST 24

Main Off-Broadway Play Reading Series: Icebound, by Owen Davis Main Louisville Library, 301 York St. | 1:30pm-4pm | FREE

The Main Off-Broadway - Play Reading Series is a monthly program that brings classic plays to life. Each month the Louisville Library showcases a different work that has recently entered the public domain, read aloud by a cast of accomplished Louisville actors. In August, they will take on Icebound, by 1923 Pulitzer Prize-winning Owen Davis, which follows the Jordan family as they gather at their matron’s deathbed to discover their inheritance has been left to a distant cousin, forcing buried truths to surface. The program is free and open to the public, but space is limited. Register at www.lfpl.org/offbroadway or by calling (502) 574-1623.

—LEO Weekly Staff

SUNDAY, AUGUST 17

Ironman 70.3 Louisville

Starts at Waterfront Park near River Park Place Marina, ends at 4th Street Live

The 2025 IRONMAN 70.3 Louisville triathlon will begin with a 1.2-mile downriver swim in the Ohio River, near the same location as the original event. Athletes will then transition at the Great Lawn in Waterfront Park, to a scenic 56-mile bike course leaving Louisville along River Rd. and continuing to the rolling hills and beautiful countryside of Oldham County. The 13.1-mile run will take athletes along the Ohio River and through several beautiful Louisville parks on the way back to an unforgettable finish line experience downtown at Fourth Street Live! just as the original IRONMAN event did.

—LEO Weekly Staff

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22

T-Bar Revival 2.0

Harley-Davidson, 1700 Arthur St. | 3-8pm | FREE

It’s louder, rowdier, and more insane than ever. The 2nd Annual T-Bar Revival is bringing gravity-defying stunt action with the Busted Knuckle Stunt Tour, plus local talent, BRL race bikes, cold beer, food trucks, vendors, and total chaos. Bikes. Beer. Burnouts. No excuses. Don’t miss Louisville’s most insane show of the year. Busted Knuckle Stunt Show times are at 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm. Local talent and burnout contest will happen between shows. Take the day to enjoy this local fun activity, which is open to all! Stunt Shows, Speed Machines, Cold Beers, Food Trucks, Vendors, FREE + Family-Friendly. Grab your crew and make a day of it.

—LEO Weekly Staff

FRIDAY, AUGUST 29-31

USA BMX Derby City Nationals

Derby City BMX Track, E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park

The Derby City Nationals is a major threeday BMX (bicycle motocross) event hosted annually at the Derby City BMX track and attracts riders of all ages and skill levels from across the U.S. and even internationally. The event features both amateur and professional races, with the pro races often including a challenging track with jumps, turns, and other obstacles. Athletes range in age from 2 years old to over 60 years old. Past Olympic winners and future hopefuls will also be in attendance. In 2024, 42 states and 6 countries were represented, with attendance numbers increasing each year. Make sure to come out and enjoy this action-packed event!

—LEO Weekly Staff

Jeff Polk’s

EAT, DRINK AND SEE IN THIS WEEK’S STAFF PICKS

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2

Hops on the Hill 2025

Mile Wide Beer Co. | 636 Barret Ave. | milewidebeer.com| Free/$10 VIP | 5:00 p.m. | 21 and over

The region’s best almost-all IPA festival, Hops on the Hill, returns to Mile Wide Beer Co. for its eighth year with nine guest breweries: Atrium (Louisville), Country Boy (Lexington), Dancing Gnome (Pittsburgh, PA), Derive (Columbus, OH), Dreaming Creek (Richmond, KY), Gnosis (Merrillville, IN), Pipeworks (Chicago, IL), Southern Grist (Nashville, TN), and Trillium (Boston, MA).

The fest runs 5:00 p.m. until midnight with a silent disco at 9:00 p.m. Admission is free, just pay-per-beer. Or upgrade your experience with a VIP wristband, available for $10 and gets you entrance an hour early at 4:00 p.m., a VIP lounge, free-play pinball games, a live DJ, and access to exclusive VIP-only beers.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 8

Shi’s 10-Year Anniversary with Bad Wires and Loreborn

Mag Bar | 1398 S. 2nd St. | magbarlouisville.com |$10 | 8:30 p.m. | 21 and over

A lot happened in 2015: same-sex marriage was legalized in all 50 states, the first Apple Watch was introduced, Kanye West announced his candidacy for president, and a new Louisville band called Shi started crafting and churning out their brand of Black Sabbath-influenced depressive stoner doom. 10 years later, “The most punctual band in Louisville” is still going at it, having just released their latest 12-song album Pure Disgust, back in November of last year. Join them at Mag Bar as they celebrate a decade of “Deep Fried Doom ‘n Roll” with local noise rock favorites Bad Wires and new Louisville heavy rockers Loreborn. Cheers to 10 years, and cheers to 10 more!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 8 - SUNDAY, AUGUST 10

It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley

Speed Art Museum | 2035 S. Third St. | speedmuseum.org | $12, ($8 for Speed and Women in Film-KY members) | Various times, see below | All ages

“Jeff Buckley had a voice that was so breathtaking, so ethereally soaring, so reaching for the heavens in its virtuosity that it’s as if he’d been given a different instrument from everyone else in pop and rock.” - Owen Gleiberman, Variety Rising musician Jeff Buckley had only released one album when he died suddenly in 1997. Now, never-before-seen footage, exclusive voice messages, and accounts from those closest to him to offer a portrait of the captivating singer’s life and music in Academy Award Nominee Amy Berg’s documentary It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, which garnered immense praise from fans and critics alike at the film’s 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere. The film opens in theaters August 8th, and Speed Art Museum is hosting four different screenings:

Friday, August 8 at 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, August 9 at 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, August 10 at 3:00 p.m.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15

Punk Rock Night Louisville Presents: Sempervivi, Gay Black Republican, and Wee Mighty

The Alcove | 246 Spring St, Jeffersonville | thealcovebar.com |Free | 9:00 p.m.| 21 and over

Punk Rock Night Louisville does it again with yet another incredibly stacked lineup! Topping the bill are Lexington pop-punk staples Sempervivi, who just happen to be celebrating their first decade as a band. And you’re also getting the political and social justice-based old school surf punk rock of Indianapolis’ Gay Black Republican, who aside from having an offensive yet completely awesome band name, are now celebrating their 24th year as a band. And Louisville is being represented in a big way with Wee Mighty, the new-ish band featuring the trio of Evan Bailey, Greg Livingston, and Troy Cox. If those names don’t ring a bell, then you need to go back and study your goddamn Louisville hardcore history! And you’re getting all this for free! Damn right you’re gonna be there!

MILE WIDE BEER CO. PARTNERS WITH KY HUMANE SOCIETY FOR 8TH ANNUAL HOPS ON THE HILL BEER FEST

Mile Wide Beer Co hosting food drive for KHS, giving away entries to win VIP wristbands for donations

BY JEFF POLK

Saturday, August 2

Hops on the Hill 2025

Mile Wide Beer Co. | 636 Barret Ave. | milewidebeer.com | Free/$10 VIP | 5:00 p.m. | 21 and over

The region’s best almost-all IPA festival (some sours have already snuck into the beer lineup), Hops on the Hill returns to Mile Wide Beer Co. for its eighth year on Saturday, August 2nd. This year is set to be the biggest and best one yet, featuring nine guest breweries:

Atrium Brewing (Louisville, KY)

Country Boy Brewing (Lexington, KY)

Dancing Gnome Brewery (Pittsburgh, PA)

Derive Brewing Company (Columbus, OH)

Dreaming Creek Brewery (Richmond, KY)

Gnosis Brewing (Merrillville, IN)

Pipeworks Brewing Co. (Chicago, IL)

Southern Grist Brewing Co. (Nashville, TN)

Trillium Brewing (Boston, MA)

Each brewery will be bringing three or more of their own beers, and the tap list is being released one brewery at a time over on Mile Wide’s Facebook page.

Mile Wide has also collaborated on a few new beers with some of the guest breweries, and they’ll be rolling those out specially for the festival, as well as having several of their own beers on tap, including the namesake Hops on the Hill Oat Cream IPA.

Hops on the Hill runs from 5:00 p.m. until midnight, with a silent disco beginning at 9:00 p.m. Admission is free; just pay per beer.

Or upgrade your experience with a V.I.P. wristband ($5 for Mile Wide Club members, $10 for the general public), which will get you the following benefits:

Early festival access at 4:00 p.m.

A V.I.P. Lounge with couches, picnic tables, and massive fans to help cool you down. Free-play pinball games, (no quarters necessary).

Music from a live DJ.

And perhaps most importantly, access to the V.I.P. bar, which will have exclusive taps from each of the guest breweries!

V.I.P. wristbands are available for purchase now at the Mile Wide Taproom. And I speak from experience when I say that for only $10, it is absolutely worth it!

Courtesy photo

LISTEN LOCAL: NEW LOUISVILLE MUSIC TO MAKE YOUR SUMMER EVEN HOTTER!

New releases by Producing A Kind Generation, Cowboy Preachers Club, Pissed On, Turner, and More!

BY JEFF POLK

Chenille oKeel

“This Town” - single

I’m always happy to get new songs from Chenille oKeel, (the solo project of Francis deRome). You never know exactly what it is you’re going to get, but you can bet it’s going to be a little quirky, perhaps a bit strange, but always with a lot of heart behind it. And his latest single, “This Town,” does not disappoint.

Much like the tracks “Knuckle Sandwich” and “Magical Fish” released last year, deRome drops the British new wave synth pop of previous releases and returns to his bare bones ukulele and vocals-only style to deliver a sincere, charming, heartfelt song that is distinctly Chenille oKeel.

“Truly about the passing of time; this song is a wonderful melody that came to me. It’s in sympathy still and I just wanted to capture it before I got so good at it that it wouldn’t feel like this anymore” said deRome of the track. And what you get is a sweet, lovely, upbeat song that spotlights not only deRome’s distinctive, unique, slightly odd but wonderfully charismatic vocals, but also his penchant for writing lyrics that are positive and happy, yet thoughtful and introspective at the same time.

At only a minute and 14 seconds long, this is one of Chenille oKeel’s shortest songs yet, but also proof that he only needs a minute of your time to brighten your day!

Cowboy Preachers Club

“Little Rooms” - single

A bit has changed for Cowboy Preachers Club since the release of their Toro EP last year. The once six-piece band is now a four-piece, as a guitarist and a vocalist have both exited for different reasons, leaving Stephen Michaels as the sole guitarist and Bethany Pyles as the sole vocalist, (bassist Mike Winn Jr. and drummer/ percussionist Jacob Atwell round out the band).

And as far as their debut single as a fourpiece goes, their sound has changed a bit too. Whereas the four songs that make up the Toro EP lean more into Americana, their latest single “Little Rooms” achieves more of a broader sound.

The song begins with an ethereal, almost haunting chorus of Pyles’ layered vocal harmonies, which are soon joined by a rolling indie rock guitar hook that opens up into a beautiful, bright, poppy, breezy, shoegazey, indie rock melody as soon as the drums and bass kick in. With “Little Rooms,” Cowboy Preachers Club creates an amazingly rich, warm, happy, carefree soundscape to sink into and lose yourself in. And the crescendo then climax at the three-minute mark is the icing on the cake! Pyles’ sublime, beautiful vocals are fully in the spotlight, put there by the underpinning of a supremely talented group of musicians and songwriters. With lyrics reflecting on the friends and love they’re received as a result of the four of them creating music together, “Little Rooms” is a wonderful song that, once finished, you can’t hit replay fast enough, and it will be stuck in your head for days to come! I’m not sure anyone can listen to this song and not be touched in some way. Pure bliss!

cowboypreachers.club

Pissed On

“We Will Eat You” / “Cadaver” - singles

Pissed On was a fixture in the local death metal scene back in the mid-to-late 2010’s, pretty much dominating any stage they played. While their body of work during that time only consisted of an EP, a split EP, and a demo, they still managed to leave indelible marks on a national scale with the like of Decibel Magazine, Metal Injection, New Noise Magazine, and of course LEO Weekly singing their praises.

Following their break up in 2019, members moved on to new bands such as In Utero and Grave Lilies, but Pissed On continued to rack up impressive numbers over the years on streaming services such as Spotify, showing they were anything but forgotten. So it was with great interest when the band resurfaced in February 2024, almost five years after the last show.

Time has certainly not slowed them down any. If anything, they’re actually stronger and more brutal than ever! So far they’ve released four singles since 2024, with the promise of more to come. Their latest two singles, “We Will Eat You,” (which I have to assume is inspired by the 1979 Lucio Fulci gorefest movie Zombie), and “Cadaver,” (about revenge on the system), are perfect examples of the type of crushing death metal, grind, hardcore combo that this band has always been so great at. While the covers of both show the band doesn’t take themselves too seriously, (the “We Will Eat You” cover’s take on Weezer’s self-titled blue album is quite amusing). In short, Pissed On is back in a big fucking way! Prepare yourselves!

pissedonband.bandcamp.com

Producing a Kind Generation For Love’s Sake - EP

I’ve often called PAKG the most prolific band in Louisville. But as far as releasing quality music, they may just be the most prolific band ever! Anyone can churn out album after album of thoughtless garbage, but it takes an incredible amount of talent to put out a steady stream of well-written, solidly crafted songs that all stand on their own merit. And PAKG has been doing that in droves!

For those of you counting, they just released a 10-song album titled Slump two months ago, and now they’re back with a new 6-song EP, For Love’s Sake. Add in guitarist/vocalist Dre Smith’s side project 10th Street Dre, under which he has already released an 8-song acoustic EP and an 11-song rap album (which also features the rest of PAKG), and we’re up to 35 songs released in the last 7 months! And the capper is that it’s all great music! The kind of material that most band strive their whole career to write is flowing out of these guys like water.

The band has always been rooted in alt-rock with a strong funk backbone, but the six tracks on For Love’s Sake see the band taking some less-prevalent influences and bringing them front and center, such as the bluesy “Tried it All,” the soulful “Come Home”, the R&B burner “The Groove”, and the slow jam “Would You Care.” But the band drives it home when they are in their alt-rock/funk groove wheelhouse on tracks “All of Us” and “Something True.” PAKG is an anomaly. There is no way music of this quality should be possible to create in this quantity. But the proof is right there, and it’s astounding!

pakg.world

Search Chenille oKeel on Spotify

Sheri Streeter and Cadillac Young

“You Can’t Take That Away From Me” - single If you’re expecting the melancholic indie folk of Sheri Streeter’s previous material, you’re in for a surprise. Co-written by Shitfire’s Cadillac Young, (as well as featuring Shitfire drummer Luke Stevens), “You Can’t Take That Away From Me” is a post-grunge, alt-rock track that has the mid-to-late 90’s feel of bands like Drugstore and Throwing Muses.

The collaboration is part of a special project in which three local vocalists, (Streeter, Young, and Rob Pennington), wrote different songs to the same musical stem. “You Can’t Take That Away From Me” is the first song Streeter has written in three years following her father’s death, which had a profound impact on her and led her to question whether she wanted to continue on as a musician. She knew she would have to write about him in order to get over her block, but she didn’t want it to be a sad song.

Growing up a daddy’s girl, Streeter and her father butted heads when she became an adolescent, with some of their biggest fights ended in her father grounding her from music. So when she received the track from Young; “I decided to lean into how angry I was with my dad back then with all the bratty, mean, you-can’t-take-that-back shit I wanted to say to him when I felt powerless as a kid,” said Streeter.

The result is a burner of a song that features one of Streeter’s most powerful vocal performances to date. And she hopes her late father Glynn would have loved and also been pissed off by this new single. I’m thinking he would be more proud than anything.

linktr.ee/sheristreeter

LEO Weekly has Spotify playlists for each Listen Local column featuring selected tracks from each reviewed release. Search Spotify for LEO Weekly and have a listen!

Want to see your music reviewed in LEO Weekly? Louisville and Southern Indiana-based bands/artists, send a link to your music on the streaming site of your choice along with a band/artist bio, a high-resolution pic of the release’s cover art, and any additional information that may be helpful for the review, (the more, the better), to music@leoweekly.com.

Tin Zelkova

“Bring Your Love” - single

Tin Zelkova just released their 2nd full-length album, The Rock Made To Roll, back in March. So how do they celebrate it? Apparently by not resting on their laurels, as they already have a brand new single out. And honestly, I think this is my favorite track of theirs yet!

Built around a catchy-as-fuck guitar hook, “Bring Your Love” features crunchy guitar, thick bass lines that do some great walking around, thunderous drums, and the tight, in-the-pocket musicianship we’ve come to expect from this band.

Tin Zelkova have always created a fine mesh of 70’s classic rock mixed with modern alt-rock, and “Bring Your Love” is one of their best examples of that yet. The main riff sounds like something that would have been on Led Zeppelin II or Rush’s Fly By Night, but the vocals and the rest of the track have a modern rock sheen to them, making for yet another track that is simply Tin Zelkova through and through.

They are masters of mid-tempo, groove-oriented songs with big hooks, and their sound offers a little something for everyone. This really is a band you could put on any bill regardless of who else was playing and they will steal the show! There aren’t many people who could listen to a song this catchy and not nod their head and tap their feet along to the beat. It’s an infectious sound!

These guys have played some high-profile gigs recently, including both the Whisky a Go Go and The Viper Room in L.A., so yes, they are the real deal. So if you’re not familiar with them yet, what are you waiting for?

tinzelkova.com

Tripendicular

“Quiet Hours” - single

I like that singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist and Louisville native Todd Groemling, (pronounced Gremm-ling), refers to Tripendicular as a “mostly-solo project.” Although he is certainly talented enough to write and record every instrument, sometimes he takes a bit of a step back and lets others help craft the songs.

That is the case with his latest track “Quiet Hours,” in which Groemling collaborated with California-based musician Kon Savransky. As described in the press release for the song, Groemling was looking to do an indie rock song, one in which the foundation was built solely on guitar, bass, and acoustic drums. Since he admits that he tends to gravitate towards music that sprinkles those instruments with synthesizers and orchestral textures, he let collaborator Savransky drive the song. And it is Savransky who took on writing the music, recording all instruments and mixing the song while Groemling handled vocal melodies, lyrics, and vocals.

The result is a track whose music moves beyond just that of indie rock and into shoegaze and dream pop territory that skirts the edges of psychedelic and new wave for a sound that is akin to the likes of Slowdive and Lush, creating a big, dreamy, rolling, melodic soundscape.

Lyrically the song is about caring for someone who cares more about themselves than you, with Groemling adding “There’s a fine line between being taken advantage of and deceiving oneself. But usually, eventually, we figure out when a situation is not right for us. This song is about that journey.” “Quiet Hours” is certainly an easy song to lose yourself in, and I suggest you do just that.

tripendicular.carrd.co

Turner

“Jump In” - single

Turner’s debut single “Jump In” is yet another reason why I say if there was still a record industry left, right now Louisville would be where Seattle was in the early 90’s. This is undoubtedly, unquestioningly, hands down a massive hit song right here that would have had major labels chomping at the bit to sign them based on just this song alone. But it doesn’t work like that anymore. But with over 3.5k streams in just a few days of being released, apparently I’m not the only one feeling it.

Turner, originally known as Bad Mustache, (and if you like this song, there are some other singles and an EP streaming on Spotify under that band name), started out as the solo project of frontman Jesse Klapheke, who then added Alex McGrath and Hunter Crump, (both of whom are also in BARCLAY’S, another band that would absolutely be signed if there were a record industry left), and Ryan Petit. The feeling they gave Klapheke’s songs as a full band, coupled with the sign they saw on the side of a highway outside of Columbus, led them to rebrand as Turner.

The great thing about this track is that while there are obvious influences of indie rock, alt-rock, grunge, emo, and punk, this isn’t derivative of any genre. It’s just an extremely catchy, highly enjoyable, over all-too-quick earworm that mashes together the best sounds of the 90’s, 2000’s, 2010’s, and today. Not to mention the music video for this song is great! In short, you need to hear this!

instagram.com/turner.online

DOLLFACE BROWS AND BEAUTY ANNOUNCES COLLAB WITH VELVET OUTLAW

The limited edition design captures the shared spirit of both local brands

BY ARIA BACI

Dollface Brows & Beauty and Hiya! Beauty have released their first collaboration with Velvet Outlaw. The limited-edition “Eat Me” bandana blends style with a playful attitude and a slight dramatic flair.

Available only at the Dollface online shop and at the Dollface Brows & Beauty physical location at 207 S. Shelby St. in NuLu, the bandanas are designed for anyone who wears their style—and their confidence— loud and proud. This collaboration celebrates self-expression, a bold approach to personal styling, and the shared spirit of both brands: “unapologetic, fearless, and fun.”

Dollface Brows & Beauty and Hiya! Beauty are two bold, boundary-pushing brands founded by Louisville-based esthetician Jess Harrison. Both brands are redefining confidence and self-expression from the inside out.

Dollface Brows & Beauty has developed a following in Louisville for Instagramready brow shaping, waxing, and glowing skin services. Hiya! Beauty brings a vibrant,

inclusive energy to style by developing playful yet high-performing products that celebrate uniqueness. Together, the brands are creating spaces—and experiences—where beauty is fearless, fun, and entirely your own.

Miranda Deaton started her clothing brand Velvet Outlaw in 2022. Using upcycled and reworked materials, Velvet Outlaw designs are influenced by Western fashion, country music, and 1970s style. It is a queer-owned brand focused on sustainability—and fringe. Deaton started her brand in an attic, surrounded by rhinestones and vintage suits, accompanied by a turntable, but soon moved to a studio at Mellwood Art Center.

“Teaming up with Dollface Brows & Beauty was a no-brainer,” said Deaton. “VO’s style is bold, colorful and a whole lot of ‘yeehaw.’ These custom bandanas marry both the VO and DF worlds with a cheeky and playful attitude. They’re made for anyone wanting to slam their laptops shut because they live on vacation mode.”

Harrison shares similar feelings.

“Working with Velvet Outlaw has been such a fun experience and the perfect way to bring our worlds together,” she said. “We wanted to create something that felt playful while being a style signifier that is totally wearable with almost any outfit.”

The limited edition of 30 pieces is moving

fast, but both brands have a lot more in works-in-progress for the future. “I love these incredible, hand-stitched designs and couldn’t be more excited to see and hear what people think,” Harrison said.

Aria Baci

SUPERMAN: A HOPEFUL, BRIGHT MAN OF STEEL SHINES IN THIS ZANY SUPERHERO ROMP

BY DANIEL CRUSE

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a… good movie? Finally. Superman is one of the most iconic pop cultural figures in the world, up there with Michael Jordan and Santa Claus in terms of global recognition. And yet the neverending onslaught of superhero movies that exponentially accelerated in the late 2000s has never granted us a definitive, solid, modern cinematic iteration of the character, until now.

James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) steps into the director’s chair for this first outing for the newly branded DCU, a pilot film for what will hopefully shape into a successful, connected universe of stories featuring DC characters. The film stars David Corenswet as Superman/Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, along with a rich and energetic ensemble of heroes, villains, and regular folks brought together when Superman’s intervention of a crisis in a fictionalized Middle Eastern land-dispute brought on by a violent, colonial neighboring nation sets into motion a master plan by supergenius Lex Luthor (Nicholaus Hoult).

The political dispute that Superman steps into sees the film deliver an outright humanist, strongly anti-imperial message that will surely draw the ire of many who have already knocked Gunn for describing Superman as a fundamentally immigrant story. The politics of Superman do not directly affix themselves to our real world, but they certainly evoke feelings that are hard to avoid given the current moment.

Superman makes an interesting and ultimately successful decision to drop audiences into this franchise as if it were already ongoing. There are no origin stories. Instead, we pick up with a Metropolis that has known Superman for three years. “Metahumans,” as the film calls them, are a common occurrence, and the cataclysm that comes with them is all but expected. This choice works for a couple reasons. One is that we already know Superman, film audiences have known of his origin since the wild success of the 1978 film starring Christopher Reeve. The second is that Gunn’s film allows itself to undercut any sense of self-importance by framing itself

more of an episode-of-the-week type of story, communicating to audiences that this world is lived in and will continue to go on after the credits roll (and do stay for the credits if you want to see two charming and sweet, albeit inconsequential, stingers).

What Superman does best is that it finally modernizes the traits that readers and moviegoers came to love about the character decades ago. He is not brooding or cynical, he loves humanity and loves to consider himself a part of it. He loves heroism. He smiles. He is romantic (the chemistry between Corenswet and Brosnahan is absolutely perfect). He saves people, and he is damn charming while he does it. This Superman is more hopeful and life-affirming than just about any superhero character we’ve gotten on the big screen this century, and that is much appreciated.

The film also delivers a wallop of comedic beats and character moments, especially with the inclusion of the so-called “Justice Gang,” a ragtag group of heroes who all leave their own stamp on the movie. Guy Gardener (Nathan Fillion) is an arrogant Green Lantern,

and just about every line out of his mouth had the theater roaring with laughter. Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi) is a brilliant scientist who battles with technology, and his character steals nearly every scene he is in. Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) is given the least to do of this trio but has a few great action moments, while also playing off Guy’s energy perfectly. If it sounds like a lot, that is because it is. Superman works best when it embraces the mania of its comic book storytelling. Along with Clark Kent, audiences are ping ponging back and forth between giant monster fights, a budding romance, a geopolitical conflict, and an ideological battle with his nemesis. But the movie maintains such a consistent energy that you never feel overwhelmed or worn out by everything going on. All the plot threads followed through this exciting ensemble of characters come together to deliver one of the most thoroughly entertaining superhero movies of the year. Superman is back, better than ever.

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freewillastrology@freewillastrology.com

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

August 1-31

ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): For many bamboo species, nothing visible happens for years after the seeds are sowed. Beneath the surface, though, the plants are developing an extensive underground root system. This is referred to as the “sleep” or “creep” phase. Once the preparatory work is finished, the above-ground growth explodes, adding as much as three feet of stalk per day. Dear Aries, I sense you have been following a similar pattern. Soon you will launch a phase of vigorous evolution and expansion. It might feel unsettling at first, but I predict you will come to adore it.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You are very close to uncovering interesting information about yourself—some new, some forgotten. But you will have to be brave and strategic to actually find it. If you manage to pull off this demanding-but-not-impossible trick, a series of breakthroughs may stream your way. Like what? Here are the possibilities. 1. A distorted self-image will fade. 2. An adversary’s hex will dissolve. 3. An inhibition will subside, freeing you to unite with a fun asset. 4. You will knock down a barrier that has been so insidious you didn’t know how strong it was.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In medieval music, “organum” refers to passages that feature two voices. One is sung in long, sustained notes, and the other performs intricate, faster-moving melodic lines above it. This is an apt metaphor for the roles I invite you to take on in the coming weeks, Gemini: both the drone and the melody. One way to do it is to hold steady in one realm as you improvise in another. Another is to offer your allies doses of stability and inspirational dreams. Welcome the duality! You are capable of both deep-rooted rhythm and visionary risk; both fortifying truth and playful fun.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian author Ernest Hemingway had a reputation for bravado, but he was adept at wielding the protective, self-nourishing skills your sign is renowned for. He was sensitive about his works-in-progress, refusing to discuss unfinished stories. He understood that raw creative energy needed to be sheltered from kibitzing until it could stand on its own. “The first draft of anything is shit,” he said, but he also knew that defending the right to write that mediocre first draft was essential for him to thrive. Hemingway’s ability to channel his emotional vulnerability into moving prose came from establishing firm boundaries around his generative process. I recommend you do all that good stuff in the coming weeks, dear Cancerian.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In ancient China and ancient Greece, the lion was not the king of beasts, but the guardian of gates. The threshold keeper. The one who asked, “Are you ready?” Now is a good time to bring this aspect of Leonine symbolism to your attention. You may soon feel a surge of leadership radiance, but not necessarily the stage-commanding kind. It will be more like priest and priestess energy. Gatekeeper presence. People and situations in your orbit are on the verge of transformation, and you can be a midwife to their transitions—not by fixing or moralizing, but by witnessing. So I invite you to hold space. Ask potent questions. Be the steady presence ready to serve as a catalyst.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The love-fakers and promise-breakers and delusion-makers are no fun, but I think you will ultimately be grateful they helped you clarify your goals. The reverse healers and idea-stealers and greedy feelers are perilous to your peace of mind in the short run, but eventually they will motivate you to create more rigorous protections for your heart, health, and stability. In conclusion, Virgo, it’s one of those odd times when people with less than pure intentions and high integrity can be valuable teachers.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is built into a Norwegian mountain near the Arctic. It’s humanity’s backup garden. It stores over a million seed varieties from all over the world, serving as a safeguard for biodiversity. In accordance with astrological omens, Libra, I invite you to imagine yourself as resembling a seed vault. What valuable capacities are you saving up for the future? Are there treasures you contain that will ensure your long-term stability and security? Which of your potentials need to get extra nurturing? Bonus: Now is a good time to consider whether you should activate any of these promises.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): There’s a myth in Gnostic traditions that Sophia, the Goddess of Divine Wisdom, split herself apart and dispersed into the material world. She became embedded in every stone, plant, and drop of blood. And she’s still here, murmuring truth from within every part of the material world. In Sophia’s spirit, Scorpio, here is your message: Wisdom isn’t elsewhere. It’s embedded in your body; in your grief; in the wood grain of your table and the ache behind your eyes. More than ever, you have a mandate to celebrate this gift. So for now, refrain from thinking that spirituality is about transcendence and ascendance. Instead, greet the

sacred in the dust and mud. Listen for Sophia in the ordinary. She speaks in sighs and sparks, not sermons.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): When I do tours to promote the books I write, the range of encounters can be wide. On one trip, over 300 people came to see me at a bookstore in New York City. They listened raptly, posed interesting questions, and bought 71 books. In Atlanta three days later, I was greeted by nine semi-interested people at a small store in a strip mall. They purchased three books. But I gave equal amounts of energy at both gigs. The crowd in Atlanta got my best, as did the audience in New York. I invite you to regard me as a role model, Sagittarius. Proceed as if every experience deserves your brightest offerings. Express yourself with panache no matter what the surroundings are.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In ancient Egyptian cosmology, ka is the vital essence and the double of a person that lives on after death. But it also walks beside you while you live. It drinks, eats, and dreams. It is both you and more than you. Dear Capricorn, I invite you to tune in to your ka in the coming days, and any other spiritual presences that serve you and nourish you. Be alert for visitations from past selves, forgotten longings, and future visions that feel eerily familiar.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Dear Rob Brezsny: I wonder what you are like in person. Sometimes I get a Gen X vibe, like you wear vintage t-shirts from obscure bands, are skeptical but not cynical, and remember life before the internet, but are tech savvy. Other times, you seem like a weird time-traveler visiting us from 2088. It’s confusing! Are you trying to be a mystery? When’s your next public appearance? I want to meet you. —Aquarian Explorer.” Dear Aquarian: I’m glad I’m a riddle to you. As long as I avoid being enmeshed in people’s expectations and projections, I maintain my freedom to be my authentic self, even as I continually reinvent my authentic self. By the way, I recommend you adopt my attitude in the coming weeks.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In Norse mythology, the god Odin plucked out one of his eyes and hung himself upside down from the World Tree for nine days. Why would he do such a thing? The ancient stories tell us this act of self-sacrifice earned him the right to learn the secret of the runes, which held the key to magic, fate, and wisdom. You don’t need to make a sacrifice anywhere near that dramatic, Pisces. But I do suspect you are primed for a comparable process. What discomfort are you willing to endure for the sake of revelation? What illusions must you give up to see more clearly? I dare you to engage in an inner realignment that brings metamorphosis, but not martyrdom.

Homework: Something dear that you left behind can now be retrieved. What? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

FADING AWAY

BY DAN SAVAGE

Hey Dan: I’m a cis bisexual woman in my 30s, married to a man. I am an American and I’ve been living in Europe for the past decade. I’m self-employed, and it’s a pretty lonely existence sometimes. I don’t speak the local language well. It’s a very tight-knit culture, and everybody seems like they’ve had their friend groups since birth. I’ve had a really hard time forming close relationships with people here. ANYWAY. My husband and I tried opening our marriage around 2018 and slept with other people on and off until last year. I don’t feel like the experience was a net positive for me; it really exacerbated my loneliness and anxiety, but we’re monogamous again and our marriage is fine. In the midst of all of this, I met a woman, and we became friends. It came up in conversation that I’ve been to certain nightclubs in Berlin and, after dancing around the topic, we both admitted to being in open relationships. Since then, whenever we hang out, she spends a lot of time talking about her dating life and how great it is, and goes into really explicit detail. I’ve told her that I’m not dating anymore. I’ve cried in front of her, telling her the effect that it all had on my mental health, but it doesn’t seem to stop her from viewing me as her kinky, open friend that she can talk about this stuff with.

I have hardly any friends, so I’d hate to lose her, but I also don’t enjoy her company when it’s so much about her amazing sex life. I get really anxious hearing about other people’s sex lives, which I recognize is a “me” issue. It’s not like I’m her only outlet for sex talk, because she tells me (brags, even) that she can talk very freely about her sex life with other friends, coworkers, and even her siblings. Do I politely decline her invitations to hang out until she gets the point and stops reaching out? Do I tell her directly that listening to her stories puts me on the verge of a panic attack? Do I work harder in therapy?

—I Can’t Hear You

Fading away — declining your friend’s invites until she gets the hint — will definitely send a message, ICHY, but it’ll be a vague, self-defeating, and needlessly cruel message.

Zooming out for a second: this woman would have to be dense not to realize you don’t wanna listen to her sex stories. But some people are dense. You met her when you were open, and you cried in front of her when you shared your own story. Someone of reasonable emotional intelligence might think, “Hey, it might be painful for my friend to listen to my stories about KitKatClub when her experiences there were so painful.” But this friend — if she is a friend (more on that in a moment) — might figure you’re okay hearing about her stories since her experiences aren’t the ones that made you cry.

If you haven’t told her that hearing about her

sexual adventures dredges up your own painful memories, your friend — if she’s really that dense (and some people really are) — might not know she’s upsetting you. And if she really is that dense, she’s not going to be able to figure out what she did wrong when you ghost her and might obsess over what she did wrong.

Or — hey — maybe she knows hearing about the last four dicks she sucked is making you miserable, and she doesn’t care.

There’s only one way to find out whether your friend is either a well-meaning but clueless dolt who might be capable of a course correction or whether she’s a self-involved asshole who doesn’t care about you: speak the fuck up. If you say something — if you politely ask her to spare you the sex stories — you might save this friendship. If you ghost her instead, you’re definitely going to lose one of the few friends you have. Seeing as you feel isolated, ICHY, it seems to me that you should err on the side of saving this friendship.

If you can’t find the words, ICHY, feel free to copy, paste, and send this to your friend: “I like spending time with you but when the conversation turns to your sex life it makes me feel anxious — not because you’re doing anything wrong but because I’m still processing the fallout from my own experiences with openness, which weren’t great. Remember how I cried? You’ve got lots of other people you can talk to about this stuff — even your siblings — so I want to be the friend you talk with about anything and everything else. Deal?”

If this woman is an asshole, the next time you get together, she’ll launch into a story about her last visit to KitKatClub, and you can feel free to ghost her. If she’s not an asshole, she’ll talk with you about the shows she’s binging or the museums she visited in Berlin when she wasn’t getting fucked on the dance floor at Berghain, and you can keep hanging out.

Hey Dan: I recently signed up for a free fetish website and discovered I LOVE sharing photos of my body and getting anonymous comments/likes. However, I’m keeping things pretty PG-13 for fear of my identity somehow being exposed. I literally worry about an ex recognizing my butt freckles or a roommate seeing our shower tiles. And the imagined consequences: how it might impact my job, my family, my reputation in the community, etc. I’d be turned on by posting more NC-17 or even R-rated content, but have been quelled by my fears. Any advice? Should I go for it with the naughty stuff or stay modest?

—Posting Online Smut Entails Risk

Millions of people are going to share dirty pics online today, POSER, and most will face no negative consequences. But your fears are not

unfounded: people have lost jobs, friends, and spouses — and gotten in trouble with their roommates — after making their homemade smut public. You can protect your identity by using a fake name and burner email, scrubbing metadata from your photos (don’t ask me how; I have to ask my husband’s boyfriend to turn on the TV), cropping your face out of photos, and blurring out uniquely identifying features, e.g. tattoos, freckles, shower tiles, framed family photos on your nightstand, etc.

And remember: Even if you delete an image seconds after posting it, someone may have already saved it and/or some bot may have already scraped it — and an image you posted to one website (or shared privately) can end up on a million other websites. (A friend posted a photo online fifteen years ago that became iconic in gay kink circles and wound up on coffee cups.) But in addition to the billions of dirty photos already in circulation and the millions that will be added today — to say nothing of the advent of AI porn and the penumbra of plausible deniability it has created (“Sure, that’s my face but that’s not me that’s AI!”) — your dirty pics will most likely get lost in the pile. And with almost everyone having shared a few dirty pics online these days, dirty pics have less power to destroy a person’s life than they once did.

P.S. No risk, no reward.

P.P.S. Not giving a fuck who sees your photos is also an option.

Hey Dan: I’ve been seeing this boy I really like for six months. I’m writing to you and not some other advice columnist because I don’t want my hangups to screw up the best relationship I’ve ever had. He’s into latex (he owns SO much latex clothing) and loves BDSM. When he has kinky sex with someone, he’s absolutely euphoric afterwards. Nothing we do together makes him feel the way a “play” session with a dominant man makes him feel. He says he enjoys vanilla sex with me, and I shouldn’t think he’s lying about that because he initiates all the time. But he only watches kink porn, never vanilla porn, and it’s hard not to get in my head about it. We’re both gay and in our twenties. He’s a little younger than I am, but he’s way more sexually experienced. He tells me that he’s never met someone in the kink scene he wanted to date (although some kinky men have wanted to date him), and he’s sure he wants a vanilla life partner. How do I know that’s not a lie? How can I be sure he won’t catch feelings for some kinky guy he plays with? I could never do the things he needs because I can’t bear to hurt him (or anyone!), and he says it wouldn’t work with me doing it to him anyway. Tell me why you don’t think he’s lying to me and how I can relax and enjoy this relationship. Tell me it will work out. And please don’t beat

up on me, Dan, as I’m not the one who’s into that. —Very Anxious Nerd In Love Lacking Assurances

I won’t beat you up — you’re not into that — but I’m not going to lie to you.

This relationship might not work out. Most relationships don’t. And your boyfriend could be bullshitting you about what he wants. In his kinky heart of hearts, your boyfriend might want a life partner who shares every single one of his kinks. But then he met you, VANILLA, and he really liked you… and he really enjoyed having vanilla sex with you… and right now, he’s thinking about settling for you.

That sounds awful, I realize, but being “settled for” isn’t a bad thing. No one gets everything they want in a relationship, VANILLA, which means there’s been some compromising—there’s been some settling — on both sides of every successful long-term relationship. There’s no settling down without settling for. So, if giving up on finding a kinky life partner is the price of admission he’s willing to pay to be with you, VANILLA, you can let him pay that price. And sucking up your insecurities — willing yourself to take his “yes” for an answer — will be the price of admission you pay to be with him.

Now for the good news: It’s entirely possible your boyfriend is telling you the truth. Some kinksters don’t like to mix romance and kink. Someone like your boyfriend may need his kinky play partners to be fantasy figures. VANILLA, and while life partners can make good or even great sex partners (and it sounds like you guys have good sex), life partners are not fantasy figures. They’re reality figures. And the fact that your boyfriend is young and experienced argues in favor of him telling you the truth. If he’s played with and dated kinky guys, he’s speaking from experience when he tells you that mixing kink and love doesn’t work for him. So, it’s entirely possible your boyfriend isn’t settling for you at all — well, at least not where his kinks are concerned. And so long as you don’t make the mistake of asking him to choose between your insecurities and his kinks, this could work.

It actually sounds like this relationship is already working, VANILLA, and will keep working — and may even work out — if you don’t let your insecurities screw it up.

Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love!

Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan!

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HALVING THE LAST WORD

BY GARRETT CHALFIN

Puzzles Edited by Will Shortz

Garrett Chalfin is a second-year student at the University of Chicago, studying philosophy and economics. He says he has made many friends in college through crosswords — including, most notably, his girlfriend. ‘‘Before the first day of college, she contacted me because she wanted to hear more about my puzzle-making. We’ve been together ever since.’’ — W. S.

1 Verso’s counterpart

6 Alternative to an onion bagel 11 Jai 15 Where the Pilgrims first landed in the New World

Skating gold medalist Oksana

Host 21 Quick look

22 Has a tab open, say

23 Hip-hop’s ‘‘Puba’’ and ‘‘Daddy I.U.’’?

25 Station near Madison Square Garden, for short

26 Fleet

27 Hung around

28 Remove from the Champagne bucket?

30 ‘‘Just kidding!’’

31 Feeling rash?

34 Hip-hop artist with the 2019 hit ‘‘My Type’’

35 Crisis involving cartels 39 Goes ‘‘Vroom!’’ 41 Royal title

42 Casting a total brat in the school play?

45 Some govt. securities

49 ____-tempered 50 ‘‘Super cool!’’ 51 Get ready to take a shot 53 Ship propeller 54 French for ‘‘from’’

55 Release

57 Dante’s guide in the ‘‘Inferno’’

60 Singer Del Rey

61 ‘‘The score upon which reality is written,’’ per Henry Miller

62 Apps might be seen on one

63 Sediment, e.g.

65 ‘‘The co-star of ‘Duck Soup’ has to be sore after that!’’?

69 Anonymous guy

70 Pauperism, so to speak

71 Author of the 2020 memoir ‘‘Cubed’’

72 Lots

73 ‘‘Because I’m the boss!’’

75 Pinged online

76 Condition for which Luvox may be prescribed, in brief

79 ‘‘Wonder Woman’’ star

81 Mountain

82 Late singer Payne of One Direction

84 Modern home of where cuneiform writing originated

85 Way up or way down

87 ‘‘How long have beavers blocked this river?’’?

92 ‘‘As ’’

94 Earthenware pots

95 Was comparable to

96 Apparel feature that a bandeau lacks

100 Function in the role of

102 Monk’s title

103 Be crazy about Chicago trains with broken A.C.s?

105 Much in quantity

109 Baseball family name

110 Actor Jared

111 Metric in a competitive family business?

114 Prince, e.g.

115 In parentis

116 Blow

117 Designer Hilfiger

118 Lays turf on

119 Little twerp

120 Trunk

121 Head of Slytherin House in the Harry Potter books

DOWN

1 Subject of the 2018 biopic ‘‘On the Basis of Sex,’’ familiarly

2 Noble title

3 ‘‘Ci vediamo in giro!’’

4 Getting ready to listen

5 Historic district of a city

6 Gnarly problem, so to speak

7 Architect of Hong Kong’s Bank of China Tower

8 Certain hallucinatory experience

9 Directed

10 Last word of James Joyce’s ‘‘Ulysses’’

11 Dad, in Korean

12 Ingredients in some potato soups

13 Son of Aphrodite

14 ‘‘You don’t have to tell me’’

15 Time for a pick-me-up, humorously

16 Lie ahead

17 Joe of ‘‘Home Alone’’

18 First name in perfumes

24 Label anew

28 Banks from Los Angeles

29 Maidenhair and others

32 Common dog command

33 Chance

35 Hit up on Instagram, informally

36 Overnight party with light shows and ‘‘cuddle puddles’’

37 Luau strings

38 Rock group with the 1992 hit ‘‘Creep’’

40 Harum-____ (reckless)

43 Untrue

44 Notaro of comedy

46 Drag-and-drop disposal icon

47 Start of a counting rhyme

48 Hit with a smack

52 Time in a Shakespeare title

55 Former Israeli P.M. Olmert

56 Platform for Safari and FaceTime

57 Borderline

58 ‘‘Need You Tonight’’ band, 1987

59 Leave alone

61 Arbiters of taste

62 Polite term of address

64 Stamp on an invoice

65 Implied

66 Valerie Harper title role

67 One of three immortal elders in ‘‘A Wrinkle in Time’’

68 Dickens’s Heep

69 Bouts

74 Tree whose name sounds like a pronoun

76 Word with history or hygiene

77 Shut up

78 Threw out of a contest, informally

80 Philosopher’s pursuit

82 Exam with an argumentative writing section, in brief

83 ‘‘You know, I can’t quite remember’’

84 ‘‘Oh geez, the answer was staring me in the face!’’

86 Goes through screen after screen

88 ‘‘Sadly ’’

89 Special attention, for short

90 Made nice

91 Wading birds

93 Publicly bash

96 Doldrums

97 Lumberjacks’ competition

98 Walk around, maybe

99 Where one might pick up litter

101 Oozes

104 Burgle

106 About

107 West Point inst.

108 Fanfare

111 Like a diamond in a ring

112 Queer identity, in brief

113 12/31

Answers