Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 1d

Christian is a great comedian (and an old friend) and I’m so glad his very useful music substack is getting noticed.

www.spin.com/2025/10/chri...

Christian Finnegan Is on a Mission to Introduce New Music to Old(er) People

“There's really only two things you can count on in this world: songs and dogs. Those are the two things that never will let you down.” This is the centr

www.spin.com

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 8d

Aliens Ate My Buick is fun and silly, but that’s really my jam. It’s a top ten album for me.

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 9d

I’m sure we can all agree and take comfort in the really important thing, which is, the Royals loved the show.

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 10d

Sign up to join them at this link

www.committeeforthefirstamendment.com

Committee for the First Amendment

www.committeeforthefirstamendment.com

Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 10d

Hollywood stands up for free speech. I couldn’t sign up fast enough.

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 10d

Go, Jane, go! She's rounded up hundreds of Hollywood figures to revive the First Amendment organization her father championed. Fonda, in her late eighties, is in her prime as a climate champion and a powerful voice for justice.

Jane Fonda Relaunches Committee for the First Amendment With Support of 550 Celebrities Including Pedro Pascal, Viola Davis and More

Jane Fonda has relaunched the Committee for the First Amendment with the support of Pedro Pascal, Viola Davis and more.

variety.com

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 13d

“No one’s going to tell me what gigs I shouldn’t do!” thought the rebel iconoclast comedian as he devoured the first heaping spoonful of a cake made of human feces to uproarious laughter from all those attending the party of a gazillionaire and notorious scat fetishist.

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Reposted by Steven Rosenthal

Eliza Skinner - comedian @elizaskinner.bsky.social · 14d

There is a festival running concurrently with the “Riyadh Comedy Festival” - called the “You Were Absolutely Right About These Comics, Eliza - They Are All Exactly Who You Thought They Were Festival”

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 16d

As a lover of political satire (and a hater of fascists and pedophiles) I strongly endorse this!

Thanks to The Onion, which continues to be a national treasure.

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 16d

Without further ado, here is the trailer for Jeffrey Epstein: Bad Pedophile.

Against all odds, it will air in select theatres on October 2nd, along with the theatrical debut of Sex House.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow.

And, yes, this is real.

The Onion @theonion.com · 16d

Forget everything you already know about America's most notorious dead person. Jeffrey Epstein: Bad Pedophile is in select theaters October 2.

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 18d

Here’s a tip: don’t take advice about a drug from someone who can’t pronounce the drug.

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 19d

It’s days like today when I’m grateful almost no one trusts what the Republican President of the United States rants about incoherently.

BKinDetroit @bkindetroit.bsky.social · 19d

Tylenol ain't taking this shit

From tylenol.com

A statement from the Tylenol website stating that Tylenol does not cause autism

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Reposted by Steven Rosenthal

Rob Paravonian @robprocks.com · 19d

No one’s talking about how great this has been for Celebrity Family Feud

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 19d

I work in TV. The low hundreds of thousands of views are decent. But numbers like that still got shows cancelled.

If Charlie Kirk was their best hope for eyeballs, that’s pretty bad news for them.

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 19d

Agreed. But it certainly would be a lot less damage if two to four million people were standing in the way.

I’m not saying things aren’t bad, I’m saying they don’t have as much power as they’re saying. The people are against them - and some of them know it (not enough, unfortunately)

Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 19d

Agreed. Everyone lives in a bit of bubble these days. But the right wing that’s in power right now has been marinating exclusively in their bubble since GWB. And it shows.

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 19d

😂

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 20d

Just to be clear, this Sinclair special was not today’s live funeral/memorial. It was a different one hour special looking back on Kirk’s life that was supposed to air earlier this week and got moved to YouTube instead.

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 20d

26,000 YouTube views for Sinclair’s Charlie Kirk tribute special.

Just for comparison, Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue on any average Wednesday will get between two and four MILLION YouTube views.

Right wing culture is fringe stuff. It is not American culture by any stretch.

Rex Huppke @rexhuppke.bsky.social · 20d

Everything about this headline is hilarious. And the YouTube views are a reflection of how wildly the right has overblown the number of people paying attention.

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 20d

So great that we took a comedian off the air so we could tone down the rhetoric.

Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 20d

Trump at Charlie Kirk's memorial service:

"He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That's where I disagreed with Charlie. I HATE my opponents."

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 21d

Just remembering one of my favorite TV Funhouse sketches for some reason.

youtu.be/LWr5SLg8hSE

Disney Vault (VT) - Saturday Night Live

YouTube video by Saturday Night Live

youtu.be

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 22d

I don’t even get the leverage the affiliates think they have. Make Kimmel free with unskippable ads on the ABC app — done.

And maybe Dems should pledge to someday break up a giant merger of affiliates who bow to fascists and over-police their airwaves. There, incentive to please Carr gone.

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 22d

I don’t know much about the economics of all this, but yes, I don’t understand why Disney doesn’t tell Nexstar and Sinclair to enjoy their 11:35pm reruns of “Leave it to Beaver” while Kimmel returns to the best ratings he’ll ever have.

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Reposted by Steven Rosenthal

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 22d

Disney/ABC have a responsibility to refuse to participate in corruption.

Kimmel must be reinstated. If Disney/ABC agree to this extortion then perhaps creatives + workers should consider collective action to push back. Same w/buying park + cruise tickets if they bow.

People have power. Ask Target

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Reposted by Steven Rosenthal

IATSE // #IASolidarity @iatse.bsky.social · 23d

JOINT STATEMENT: Hollywood Labor on Pulling of Jimmy Kimmel Live w/ @sagaftra.org @directorsguild.bsky.social @afm-union.bsky.social

The indefinite removal of Jimmy Kimmel Live under government pressure is not an isolated incident. It is part of a disturbing trend of increasing interference in creative expression. This kind of political pressure on broadcasters and artists chills free speech and threatens the livelihoods of thousands of working Americans.

When a private citizen, business, or television network bows to government intimidation, it strikes at the heart of our First Amendment rights. Creative artists must be free to do their work without fear that their careers or their family’s livelihoods will be disrupted simply for their opinions.

These cases pull the rug out from under the hardworking American workers behind the scenes who make these productions possible. At a time when America’s film and television industry is still struggling due to globalization and industry contraction, further unnecessary job losses only make a bad situation worse.

Finally, media companies have a responsibility to defend their workers and the integrity of the stories they tell. All broadcasters must stand firm in defense of free expression and the First Amendment, not capitulate to a policy of political appeasement.

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 23d

Just saying, this sure looks like a damn good replacement for Disney+

Criterion Channel @criterionchannl.bsky.social · 23d

✨Announcing our October 2025 Criterion Channel lineup✨
www.criterion.com/current/post...

A promotional poster for the Criterion Channel featuring film categories for October, including horror, Hong Kong action classics, body horror, and films by John Woo and Jean Rollin.

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Steven Rosenthal @stevenrosenthal.net · 23d

Disney execs meeting with Jimmy Kimmel.

A still of Ned Beatty giving Beale his famous speech in the film “Network.”

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