When writer Janet Murray took to X to make a joke about the repetitive formula of the Fox TV medical series House, she certainly didn’t expect a response from House himself. Or the vitriol that came as a result.  “Late to the party, but I’ve started watching Season 1 of House. Same narrative every episode: Patient has mysterious illness. Hugh Laurie (House) gets diagnosis wrong. Patient nearly dies. Hugh Laurie gets diagnosis wrong again. Gets threatened with being fired. Patient nearly dies again. Hugh Laurie has last-minute left-field idea. Gets diagnosis right. Doesn’t get fired. Eight seasons of this?” Murray’s post read.  When a playful critique meets its star Laurie saw the post and decided to issue a retaliation reminiscent of his lovably condescending character, writing: “Thanks for your critique, Janet.  We actually tried a couple of episodes where House (Hugh Laurie) (please put the brackets in the right place) gets it right first time, but they were only 6 minutes long. NBC weren’t happy. Then we tried some where House never gets it right and the patient dies. The audience wasn’t happy. One could apply your trenchant analysis to other art forms:  JS Bach wrote 30 Goldberg variations on the same chord structure; Frida Kahlo painted 50 portraits of herself;  Henry Moore, what?? The point is, or was, variations on a theme; if all you see is hospital, medical blah blah, then it wasn’t meant for you. Nonetheless, I look forward to your first novel!” Thanks for your critique, Janet. We actually tried a couple of episodes where House (Hugh Laurie) (please put the brackets in the right place) gets it right first time, but they were only 6 minutes long. NBC weren’t happy. Then we tried some where House never gets it right and…— Hugh Laurie (@hughlaurie) June 7, 2026 How a conversation became a pile-on Writing for UnHerd, Murray noted that this is when she saw a distinct “tone change” in the comments. What started as what she called a “good-natured” debate quickly turned into “tribal defense” once Laurie entered the space.  On the one side, Murray said her feed was filled with accusations of being “stupid, humorless, and a Karen.” She noted it felt “oddly unsettling” to suddenly receive so much hatred from strangers who “simultaneously” upheld a celebrity that they also didn’t actually know.  Of course, Laurie was also a target of some name-calling as well, and made a point to mention it in his apology follow-up post to Murray.  “I’m sorry if people have been having a go at you because of my tweet.  Not at all the plan.  I was very slightly drunk and already upset about something that had nothing to do with you.  If it’s any comfort, I got it in the neck too.  I’m a thin-skinned twat, apparently, even though it wasn’t my skin.  I was sticking up for the writers who I adored.  Obviously I shouldn’t have cited Bach/Kahlo/Moore – asking for trouble – and would have done better to go for the 10,000 blues songs written around the same 12 bar chord structure.  I’ve listened to most of them and will keep doing so.  Because we love what we love.” I’m sorry if people have been having a go at you because of my tweet. Not at all the plan. I was very slightly drunk and already upset about something that had nothing to do with you. If it’s any comfort, I got it in the neck too. I’m a thin-skinned twat, apparently, even…— Hugh Laurie (@hughlaurie) June 8, 2026 What the exchange reveals about online culture Murray accepted the apology, and even clarified that she did, in fact, enjoy the show (“despite the repetition”) and praised Laurie’s performance in it. Which leaves us with this question…if these two were able to have a peaceful discourse between themselves online, why weren’t the other commenters?  In many ways, we already do know why. Anonymity makes it easier to attack. Many social media platforms reward anger as it drives engagement, and written text can be very subjective in interpretation. That, combined with the artificial bond people can create with fictional characters (and the celebrities who portray them), makes for a perfect recipe for what transpired.  Though the Internet is such an integral part of our lives, we are clearly not in full agreement on what the Internet is actually for. Because of that, it easily turns into a place where opinions, facts, ideologies, praise, condemnation, the best and worst of everything humanity has to offer…all get mixed together into one homogenized, intangible goop. And in doing so, they become indistinguishable from one another. That’s why posting a simple personal observation about a TV show from a decade ago became an intellectual battlefront.  The irony is that House was never really about medicine; it was about recognizing that people are complex, and should be treated as such, rather than oversimplifying their existence. The discourse in the comment section reveals how easily we can forget that.  The post Hugh Laurie responds to criticism that ‘House’ was too repetitive. But it’s the conversation after that’s really worth noting. appeared first on Upworthy.

Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), a fellowship of people who support one another to solve their alcoholism and find sobriety, was founded on June 10, 1935. Two men struggling with alcoholism came together to form the 12-Step program: William Griffith Wilson (Bill W.), a New York stockbroker, and Dr. Robert H. Smith (Dr. Bob S.), an Akron surgeon, according to Alcoholics Anonymous. Both men had their own journeys to sobriety, but they found each other on that June day in Akron, Ohio. The outcome was the establishment of A.A., which today has more than 123,000 groups worldwide in 180 countries. In 2021, A.A. estimated there were nearly two million members worldwide. Who was Bill W.? At 38, Bill W.’s successful career on Wall Street had been ruined by chronic alcoholism. After multiple hospital visits for his drinking, he was introduced to the transformative help of a religious movement called the Oxford Group through a former college drinking buddy, Edwin ‘Ebby’ Thacher, (Ebby T.). The Oxford Group “practiced a formula of self-improvement by performing self-inventory, admitting wrongs, making amends, using prayer and meditation, and carrying the message to others.” By December 1934, practicing these principles helped Bill W. stop drinking. He carried these transformative tools with him to help fellow alcoholics, establishing the beginnings of A.A. Who was Dr. Bob? Dr. Bob was a successful surgeon in Akron who had began drinking in college. He shared his personal account of recovery in the AA Big Book Personal Stories in an essay called “Doctor Bob’s Nightmare,” noting his drinking worsened in medical school and after. He wrote, “My phobia for sleeplessness demanded that I get drunk every night, but in order to get more liquor for the next night, I had to stay sober during the day, at least up to four o’clock. This routine went on with few interruptions for 17 years. It was really a horrible nightmare, earning money, getting liquor, smuggling it home, getting drunk, morning jitters, taking large doses of sedatives to make it possible for me to earn more money, and so on ad nauseum.” Like Bill W., Dr. Bob eventually sought help through the Oxford Group and had been using its teachings for two years. However, it had not helped him stop drinking. It wasn’t until a face-to-face meeting with Bill W. that everything changed. The 15-minute meeting that started A.A. Bill W. was traveling in Akron on a business trip and tempted to drink when he was put in touch with fellow alcoholic Dr. Bob. The two met on June 10, 1935. What was intended to be a 15-minute conversation, turned into five hours. “[Bill W.] explained that alcoholism was a mental, physical and spiritual malady, an idea he had learned from Dr. William D. Silkworth of Towns Hospital in New York, where he had been a patient. Though a physician, Smith had never thought of alcoholism as a disease. Soon after meeting Wilson, Dr. [Bob] got sober, never to drink again,” according to Alcoholics Anonymous Houston. The relational and conversational beginnings of A.A. meetings were formed, emphasizing a recovery format based on “one alcoholic talking to another.” The two men would go on to help establish the first three groups: one in Akron’s City Hospital, another in New York, and a third in Cleveland in 1939. The post 91 years ago today, a severe hangover led two friends to start Alcoholics Anonymous in Akron, Ohio.  appeared first on Upworthy.

During World War II, Major League Baseball (MLB) surprisingly did not shutter despite many players enlisting in the armed forces. According to the American Veterans Center, over 500 major league players and over 2,000 minor league players went into service. Their dedication to their country was evident. However, keeping MLB operating during WWII was an important decision. According to the National WWII Museum, in 1940, baseball was the most popular sport in the United States. The decision to keep it going during wartime was made between the MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Landis and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt keeps baseball operating Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the future of MLB continuing to operate was up in the air. On January 14, 1942, Landis wrote a letter to President Roosevelt asking for his guidance on keeping the league operating. The American public was also polled for its opinion on whether the MLB should continue during the war or stop. The results showed that 67 percent of Americans voted to keep it going, per the National WWII Museum. On January 15, 1942, Roosevelt gave Landis a response via his now infamous “Green Light Letter.” President Roosevelt responded: “I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going.” It was settled. Baseball would continue to keep Americans at home entertained and morale high. As Jeff Obermeyer wrote for Society for American Baseball Research, keeping baseball operating was a “play to patriotism and morale, tying baseball fandom (and therefore attendance) to what it meant to be an American.” Major leaguers Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Hank Greenberg, Bob Feller, and Joe DiMaggio all served during WWII, per the National WWII Museum. But there was one important day during World War II that all MLB games were stopped: D-Day, June 6, 1944. (Future National Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra also famously served at D-Day.) MLB stopped on D-Day The Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. Known as D-day, the invasion involved nearly 160,000 American troops and their allies, according to the National World War II Museum. Known as operation OVERLORD, the attack was meant to bring a “quick end to the war.” As Smithsonian Magazine notes, “News of the invasion wouldn’t reach the United States shores until 3:32 a.m. EST, when General Eisenhower’s Order of the Day, a message recorded for the troops going into the invasion, was read over American radio stations. President Roosevelt himself wasn’t briefed of the invasion’s status until a mere 30 minutes before the American public found out—he remained on the phone with generals until 9 a.m., then met with the press at 4 p.m..” In reverence, League Commissioner Landis decided to halt all scheduled games set for that day so fans and family members with service members could listen to radio updates. “The reaction of many Americans, whenever they found out what was happening that day, was to attend religious services,” Keith Huxen, the Samuel Zemurray Stone senior director of research and history at the National World War II Museum, told Smithsonian Magazine. “Churches and synagogues were reportedly packed across the country.” Although D-Day did not end World War II, it was referred to as the “beginning of the end.” The Allied troops suffered over 10,300 total casualties (killed, wounded, or missing). “The D-Day invasion gave the Allies the success they needed to initiate the campaigns that would lead to the liberation of occupied Europe,” notes the National World War II Museum. The MLB would continue to operate following the invasion. However, on July 10, 1945, the MLB All-Star Game was also canceled during World War II as part of the war effort. The post Why Major League Baseball cancelled all games in June 1944 to support the allied invasion of Normandy appeared first on Upworthy.

In Kansas City, Kansas, two boys set up a lemonade stand at the end of their family driveway. The plan was to sell it to their neighbors on a hot day to earn some extra cash. Unfortunately, one of their neighbors was bothered by the boys’ mini business venture and called 911 to report it. Children have been creating lemonade stands for decades. Some kids can earn money through completing household chores, but not all parents have the means to provide an allowance. There are also times when children want expensive items that parents feel the child should contribute towards. In addition to not being of legal working age, these are some of the reasons kids become small entrepreneurs. Kids at a lemonade standPhoto Credit: Canva Typically, when people see children selling lemonade or other services, they smile. Some even dig out some change to purchase a cold drink and hope they remembered to add the sugar. But in this case, someone deemed it enough of an emergency that they called 911. One can only assume that they intended to get the lemonade stand shut down, but it turns out the responding officer was feeling parched. The two boys, brothers Parez and Jakkhi Reese, have been selling lemonade for several years without issue. This year turned out to be different, and while they were working their lemonade stand, Officer Moran Reed showed up. Instead of shutting the stand down, however, Reed bought a cup and called coworkers to support the stand. Within 30 minutes, the Kansas City Fire Department and Police Department bought as much lemonade and juice as they could drink. Smiling police officersPhoto Credit: Canva “I was calling everybody, yeah…make sure you guys stop by the lemonade stand.’ Then whenever they weren’t busy, a couple people were able to swing by.” While speaking with KCTV, Reed added, “I think a lot of us were kids growing up in this city. This was the thing that we always looked forward to as kids, these friendly police interactions.” The brothers made $280 to go towards their summer goals. Parez is saving up for an e-bike and to help the homeless. Jakkhi says he is hoping to help his niece and nephew by buying them diapers. KCTV 5 shared the interview on their YouTube page, where commenters were confused about why anyone would call the police on children. One person writes, “Kids selling lemonade, mowing lawns, shoveling snow, staying out of trouble and earning an honest dollar, get nosy Nelly’s call the police on them.” Another person says, “THAT is how you support your community. Props to those officers & firefighters.” Someone else laments, “People say kids should work for what they want instead of stealing — but when they actually do work, people still call the police on them. You can’t win!” Girl selling lemonadePhoto Credit: Canva “How miserable can you be to call the police on two children who are just minding their own business? That’s just weird behavior,” another writes. This person gushes, “Beautiful and inspiring young businessmen! Shout-out to the officers and firefighters for their compassion and support.” Another writes, “These boys obviously have great parents to have produced these two outstanding young men. Their hearts must have sunk when the police first turned up. So glad the officers gave the caller a giant FU and became the stands best customers.” The post Kansas City police were called to shut down 2 boys’ lemonade stand. They supported them instead. appeared first on Upworthy.

In the highly anticipated new film by Steven Spielberg, Disclosure Day, Emily Blunt plays a newscaster who develops supernatural abilities. In interviews leading up to the premiere, Spielberg praised Blunt for her ability to make strange alien noises that were so otherworldly he didn’t have to use any elaborate special sound effects, a common practice in sci-fi films. What’s interesting about her incredible vocal abilities is that she has also dealt with stuttering throughout her entire life. Earlier in her career, Blunt admitted that her stutter was so pronounced that it was difficult to hold conversations. “I was a smart kid and had a lot to say, but I just couldn’t say it. It would just haunt me. I never thought I’d be able to sit and talk to someone like I’m talking to you right now,” Blunt said, according to Vogue.  Emily blunt proves again how she’s one of the most talented and great actresses of our time by refusing to just AI and doing herself the alien noises. pic.twitter.com/gRLkJoXI4N— EmilyBluntSource (@Blunt_Source) June 9, 2026 How Emily Blunt’s stutter improved Blunt’s stutter improved after a teacher suggested she join the theater. When playing a character, she could separate herself from the condition and speak more confidently. “I distanced myself from myself through this character, and it was so freeing that my stuttering stopped when I was onstage. It was really a miracle,” she continued. Many who stutter and can hide their condition use a technique called circumlocution. It’s a way to avoid certain words by using synonyms or substituting words. That’s why the most difficult thing for Blunt to pronounce is her own name. There are no synonyms for names, so mentioning her own gives her incredible anxiety. Blunt shared this feat while promoting the Just Listen campaign, a collaboration with the American Institute of Stuttering. Just Listen is working to educate the public that stutterers don’t need to be fixed; they just need to be heard. Why Emily Blunt has trouble saying her own name “I struggle if I’m calling someone and I have to say my name on the phone, and that worries me still. I just panic. It can take me a while to say my name because you can’t substitute your name. It is still the universal thing that all stutterers deal with—is they struggle with their own name,” she told Today.   “And I think if I’m really tired or if I’m feeling stress, like leading up to a movie, I’m usually in this elsewhere state of nerves before I start it. I notice my fluency is—most people wouldn’t notice, but I can feel it,” she continued. Blunt says the hardest part of stuttering is that it keeps people from engaging with others. “It’s really frustrating, and there’s a helplessness that people can feel and a loneliness, and people just avoid, and they start shutting down, and they just don’t speak,” the Mary Poppins Returns star said. Blunt’s teacher was spot on when she suggested the future Devil Wears Prada star try her hand at the theater. Improv and theater have been shown to help people build confidence and reduce anxiety when speaking. It helped Blunt gain the confidence to express herself. It also allowed her to take the spotlight and be an ally for those who need to be heard the most. The post Emily Blunt explains why, as a stutterer, her name is the hardest thing to pronounce appeared first on Upworthy.