Donald Sutherland, known for movies like The Hunger Games, Ordinary People, Animal House, and the video for Kate Bush's 'Cloudbusting,' has passed away.

Louisiana requires Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom (NYT gift, Axios). The ACLU announced it will challenge the law. Gov. Jeff Landry told a Republican audience "I'm going home to sign a bill that places the Ten Commandments in public classrooms. And I can't wait to be sued."

The Lonely, Resolute Path of Oklahoma Lesiglator Mauree Turner (slWaPo) "Being the nation's first Black, Muslim, nonbinary state lawmaker, let alone the first in Oklahoma, was never going to be easy."

An Ode to Luby's and the Southern Cafeteria (The Bitter Southerner)

Hollywood's Brief Cocaine Binge On '87-'88's Less Than Zero, Bright Lights, Big City, and Clean and Sober (Scott Tobias for The Reveal)

The Oklahoma City Council (NPR) voted this week (NYT gift) to clear the way for the 1,907 foot (Popular Science) Legends Tower (Master Design Statement .pdf), which would be the tallest building in the US. It may be 'impropable' (Architectural Record), a 'PR stunt' (NPR station KOSU), or even 'sheer fantasy' (OKC Free Press), especially (The Oklahoman) in a state that has seen 103 tornadoes (National Weather Service) in 2024. It would definitely be expensive--developers (developers' site) say they have $1b in financing lined up.

Muppet Songs: For What It's Worth (First aired in 1978, during the second season of The Muppet Show. The guest was Bob Hope.)

Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso" is the Song of the Summer. It sounds like a genre that, in its time, was rejected by MTV and radio as 'not pop enough': '80s electro/synth funk/roller disco (Dan Charnas, author of The Big Payback and Dilla Time, writing for Slate).