"Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad," the late Robin Williams' daughter Zelda wrote on Instagram.

The latest anti-abortion bill, S.323, had a nearly 10-hour long hearing in front of the Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee on October 1st, 2025. Pro-abortion groups held a very large protest outside of the Gressette Building, where the subcommittee was holding its hearing. One elderly woman in the overflow rooms was frustrated of the feed cutting …

The shopping cart theory

If only Waylon could see his son now. Waylon Jennings has left a lasting legacy in country music, not only through his career but also for instilling a love of music in his son, Shooter Jennings. Shooter Jennings and Waylon Jennings are all the talk right now with the release of the unearthed record Songbird. The album is the first of a three-part project that showcases music recorded during the prime of Waylon’s career. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shooter Jennings (@shooterjennings) The album is truly a piece of art, and it’s incredible to hear new music from the late, great Waylon Jennings with the help of his talented son. Much of the music was recorded with Waylon’s band, The Waylors, in the prime of his career. It was all happening around the time that Waylon had won the fight for creative control, and he was making music on his own terms at this point: “What became very apparent to me was that my dad was recording constantly with his band The Waylors between tours. Just having won the David-and-Goliath battle against RCA for creative control and artistic freedom, Waylon was awarded the ability to record his music on his terms in his own studios, with his touring band, and without label oversight and without any outside influence.” Shooter explained that these weren’t just demos; they had been cut in a studio with the intention of being released, though unfortunately, for whatever reason, they just never made it to an album at that time: “There was just so much inside, my mind was blown! These weren’t demos, these were songs that were cut with the intention of releasing, and as time went on, not all of them found places on the albums that Waylon and the Waylors were releasing at the time.” Shooter really took this project to the next level when he brought in surviving members of the Waylors to help him with the project’s final touches. Songbird is a beautiful tribute to the life and legacy of Shooter Jennings’ father. And Shooter has made quite a legacy for himself in the music business, not only as a legendary producer but also as a talented musician. This Jennings musical genes run deep, eh? As I’ve been enjoying Songbird since its release, I’ve also found myself watching many old Waylon Jennings interviews where he talks about Shooter. One of my favorite interviews is when Waylon shares that coloring with a young Shooter was the moment that he knew he needed to get clean from drugs and alcohol so that he could be there for his son. His Dad’s Footsteps However, in another interview with the Australian LeGarde Twins, Waylon discusses Shooter in a way that almost predicts he would become a musical great. While Waylon does not explicitly say that he thought Shooter would become the famed producer he is today, when he was asked if he hoped Shooter followed in his footsteps as a cowboy and outlaw, Jennings responds: “You know, I’m like any other dad. That would give me a lot of pride. But when I sat right down and thought about it, I think there’s more to him than that. He’s 10 years old, and we go back to the smart and not smart, you know? Shooter is very smart. He’s much smarter than I ever was, you know? He learns much quicker.”  Waylon then gives an example of how smart Shooter was as a young kid, and when Waylon was getting his high school degree through a GED program, Shooter helped his father learn fractions. It feels like Waylon was peering into the future, given that producers have to be very astute individuals. Producers must be well-versed in mixing, music theory, have a strong ear for arrangements and composition, and be willing to learn the ever-changing software used to produce the songs we listen to today. Waylon would be proud of Shooter, following in his footsteps while paving his own path. Take a listen while you’re here. The question occurs at the 12-minute mark of the interview: The post Waylon Jennings Once Said That While He’d Love To See Shooter Follow In His Footsteps, He Felt Like “There’s More To Him Than That” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Zach Bryan finally responds to all of the noise that’s surrounded his unreleased song “Bad News.” You’ve likely already heard about the country music star’s somewhat out-of-the-blue, anti-law enforcement song that he teased last week. Bryan finds himself in the middle of controversy a lot these days (trying to fight Gavin Adcock, public break up with Brianna Chickenfry, etc.), but politics is one area that rarely ventures into. Until now. The country singer shared a snippet of a new track titled “Bad News” last Friday, and the buzz around the song shot to the stratosphere. The first verse doesn’t necessarily touch on anything too political, though it does throw out a line about the police being “cocky mother*******.” Of course, Bryan was arrested for getting mouthy and interfering with police officers in September of 2023. If you’ve seen the arrest video, the cocky part certainly is pretty ironic… “Didn’t wake up dead or in jail Some out of town boys been giving us hell I got some bad news I woke up missing you My friends are all degenerates but they’re all I got The generational story of dropping the plot I heard the cops came Cocky mother******* ain’t they?” However, once the song gets to its second verse, it dives into the political side of things. Right off the bat, Bryan took aim at the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). And towards the end of the verse, the country star reveals that the “Bad News” he’s singing about is the “fading of the red, white and blue.” He also seems to lament the fact that Bruce Springsteen, who famously rants against Donald Trump at every concert, has lost some fans recently. As you might imagine, that’s ruffled some feathers: “And ICE is gonna come, bust down your door Try to build a house no one builds no more But I got a telephone Kids are all scared and all alone The Boss stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling The middle fingers rising and it won’t stop showing I got some bad news The fading of the red, white and blue” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zach Bryan (@zachlanebryan) Can you imagine that causing an uproar? If you answered “Yes,” you’d be correct! Many Zach Bryan fans have criticized the song’s presumed message, and the country singer-songwriter even finds himself in a beef with… the United States government. The Department of Homeland Security and The White House have shared their thoughts on Bryan’s “Bad News,” which is actually pretty wild if you think about it. The controversy surrounding Zach Bryan and “Bad News” has continued to get louder and louder, which finally led the country star to take to his Instagram story to share a message that he captioned with this: “Please f***ing read this.” If you so chose to f***ing read it, Zach Bryan tries to explain himself and his song “Bad News” a bit further. The country music star says that the track actually celebrates how much he loves the United States of America, and that when fans hear the rest of the song, they’ll understand: “I wrote this song months ago. I posted this song three months ago as a snippet. This shows you how divisive a narrative can be when shoved down our throats through social media. This song is about how much I love this country and everyone in it more than anything. When you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle. Everyone using this now as a weapon is only proving how devastatingly divided we all are. We need to find our way back.” As you can see, there’s also some call to action there at the end. Zach Bryan is one of the many Americans that’s upset with how divisive things have been recently in the good ol’ U.S. of A. The “Pink Skies” singer went on to mention that he served in the U.S. Navy for eight years, and clarified that he wasn’t trying to set himself up on a pedestal with this teaser. Instead, he’s hoping that when the full version of “Bad News is released (he makes it seem as though he’ll still put the song out), it’ll be a unifying song rather than one that divides… like people are painting it out to be: “I served this country, I love this country and the song itself is about all of us coming out of this divided space. I wasn’t speaking as a politician or some greater-than-thou a******. Just a 29-year-old man who is just as confused as everyone else. To see how much s*** is stirred up make me not only embarrassed, but kind of scared. Left wing or right wing, we’re all one bird and American. To be clear, I’m on neither of these radical sides. To all these disappointed in me on either side of whatever you believe in, just know I’m trying my best too, and we can all say things that are misconstrued sometimes. Everyone have a great day and I love each and every one of ya!” While I would certainly agree that we should wait to hear the full song, Zach turned off the comments when he posted it… he knew it would fire people up. Don’t act like outrage was a surprise… He continued: “The last few months of my life, I’ve been scrutinized by more people than I ever thought possible. I feel like I’ve tried  my hardest in so many ways and it’s so hard to see where my bearings even are anymore. Been falling off a cliff while trying to grow wings at the same time. I am SO proud to have served in a country where we can all speak freely and converse amongst each other without getting doxxed, or accosted on the internet, or worse; the violence and heartbreak we’ve faced in the last few months. God speed ol’ sons I’m out.” How long before he deactivates his Instagram account too? Might be for the best…The post “I Served This Country, I Love This Country” – Zach Bryan Slams Social Media Weaponization In Response To Conservative Backlash first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

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We live in a society that prizes ambition, celebrating goal-setting, and hustle culture as praiseworthy vehicles on the road to success. We also live in a society that associates successfully getting whatever our hearts desire with happiness. The formula we internalize from an early age is that desire + ambition + goal-setting + doing what it takes = a successful, happy life.But as Harvard University happiness researcher Arthur C. Brooks has found, in his studies as well as his own experience, that happiness doesn't follow that formula. "It took me too long to figure this one out," Brooks told podcast host Tim Ferris, explaining why he uses a "reverse bucket list" to live a happier life. Many people make bucket lists of things they want in life. Giphy Brooks shared that on his birthday, he would always make a list of his desires, ambitions, and things he wanted to accomplish—a bucket list. But when he was 50, he found his bucket list from when he was 40 and had an epiphany: "I looked at that list from when I was 40, and I'd checked everything off that list. And I was less happy at 50 than I was at 40." As a social scientist, he recognized that he was doing something wrong and analyzed it. "This is a neurophysiological problem and a psychological problem all rolled into one handy package," he said. "I was making the mistake of thinking that my satisfaction would come from having more. And the truth of the matter is that lasting and stable satisfaction, which doesn't wear off in a minute, comes when you understand that your satisfaction is your haves divided by your wants…You can increase your satisfaction temporarily and inefficiently by having more, or permanently and securely by wanting less." — (@) Brooks concluded that he needed a "reverse bucket list" that would help him "consciously detach" from his worldly wants and desires by simply writing them down and crossing them off. "I know that these things are going to occur to me as natural goals," Brooks said, citing human evolutionary psychology. "But I do not want to be owned by them. I want to manage them." He discussed moving those desires from the instinctual limbic system to the conscious pre-frontal cortex by examining each one and saying, "Maybe I get it, maybe I don't," but crossing them off as attachments. "And I'm free…it works," he said. - YouTube www.youtube.com "When I write them down, I acknowledge that I have the desire," he explained on X. "When I cross them out, I acknowledge that I will not be attached to this goal."The idea that attachment itself causes unhappiness is a concept found in many spiritual traditions, but it is most closely associated with Buddhism. Mike Brooks, PhD, explains that humans need healthy attachments, such as an attachment to staying alive and attachments to loved ones, to avoid suffering. But many things to which we are attached are not necessarily healthy, either by degree (over-attachment) or by nature (being attached to things that are impermanent). "We should strive for flexibility in our attachments because the objects of our attachment are inherently in flux," Brooks writes in Psychology Today. "In this way, we suffer unnecessarily when we don't accept their impermanent nature." What Arthur C. Brooks suggests that we strive to detach ourselves from our wants and desires because the simplest way to solve the 'haves/wants = happiness' formula is to reduce the denominator. The reverse bucket list, in which you cross off desires before you fulfill them, can help free you from attachment and lead to a happier overall existence.

“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” - SocratesSometimes, it's about getting back to basics. Stripping down all the extra noise and fabric to the bare, raw moments where time stands still and we can soak in just a dash of contentment.For Canadian TikToker Nolan Reid, it really is about remembering the simplest things that bring happiness. Clad in a soft blue-gray shirt with his signature mustache, he faces the camera with a chyron saying, "My idea of a perfect night." He then points to three ideas floating on the screen while sweet music underscores the plan. @nolanreid7 Last scene almost took a spill in the water, lets see your #perfectnight #myperfectnight #saskatchewan Skip rocks.Drink beers.Have a fire. He then harkens the TikTok watchers to come along so we can experience his plan in action. As he stands on the embankment of a lake, while the orangey pink sunset threatens to descend, he begins (as promised) by skipping rocks into the water.As the sun continues to set, now resembling the flicker of a cigarette, we see Reid walk onto a dock holding a beer in one hand as he continues skipping rocks with the other. We then see part three of his "very simple plan"—a small fire crackling off to the side.For many, this pulls an emotional chord. For some (at least for me), it reminds me of my young Gen X childhood in a small Texan town. No cell phones, no distractions. Just a lake, a fire, and a few bubbly (albeit too sweet) wine coolers. Sometimes with friends, and sometimes alone as a time to under-think for once.It's, in a way, Reid's version of stopping to smell the roses. Incidentally, Kelly Willis, Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Oxford recently shared on BBC Countryfile, "The impact nature can have on our wellbeing." She goes on to list different scents and their effect on our bodies. Of roses, she says, "Smelling roses makes you more relaxed and a calmer driver. Even smelling roses for as little as 90 seconds has been shown to trigger a reduction in participants’ physiological indicators of stress." A person sniffs a yellow rose. Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash Reid asks his followers what their "perfect night" is. Nearly 170,000 likes and 450 comments follow, beginning with this kind one: "Not all heroes wear capes. Some have glorious mustaches and drink beer." Others continue to compliment Reid, claiming he is their inspiration and "Canadian hero." One shares, "If this isn't me in five years, I don't want life."A few offer ideas for *their* perfect night: Fishing rods and tubes for tubing are added to lists. This person spoke in code, but it seems pretty clear what they mean: "Personally we would camp there and fish and also shmoke shome shmeed."This wouldn't be the first time Nolan Reid has graced our pages. Within the last year, my Upworthy colleague Evan Porter shared a story from Reid where he lists "12 things that make men happy." (Among them, again, beer and skipping rocks. He adds in a good dog by your side and more.)In fact, Reid's entire page seems dedicated to finding joy in the little tiny things we forget might make us feel good. Much of it is the pleasures of camping, with simple videos of Reid making breakfast. (These are often scored by Tragically Hip songs, because of course.) @nolanreid7 Breaky in a beauty spot @Scout Campers #mountains #breakfast #hellyeah #MuzzyMade