Dan Clarendon

It’s a big deal for any actor to land a starring role in a primetime television series. It’s a bigger deal when it’s a series from TV mega-producer David E. Kelley of Big Little Lies and The Practice fame. But when you’re network TV’s first nonbinary actor in a leading role — as Jesse James Keitel is with the role of genderqueer musician Jerrie on ABC’s Big Sky — that’s historic.

Apparently, one Joseph Epstein doesn’t think Dr. Jill Biden’s degree — a Doctorate in Education from the University of Delaware — is anything to write home about. In a new Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Joseph asks the future first lady to drop the “Dr.” before her name, suggesting her doctorate doesn’t matter because she’s not a medical doctor.

Instagram claims the changes to its Terms of Use don’t change the way it enforces its community policies, but some critics say the update — which goes into effect on Sunday, Dec. 20 — will endanger the livelihood of sex workers who rely on Instagram for business.

Will Donald Trump declare martial law? The president suggests he’s not, but he reportedly asked about the idea in a meeting with advisors on Friday, Dec. 18, as he seeks to reverse his loss to President-elect Joe Biden. In an appearance on the right-wing network Newsmax, the recently pardoned former national security advisor Michael Flynn pushed for Trump to impose martial law to “rerun” the election.

Well, Distractify readers, it’s been real. The world is ending Monday, Dec. 21, 2020, according to a Mayan “prophecy”… according to a YouTube user named Pastor Paul Begley. Yeah, no, we don’t believe any of this either. But at least these doomsday predictions are good for a laugh. And honestly, the way 2020 has been going, would any of us be surprised if the apocalypse happened as well?

Hulu’s Helstrom didn’t make much of an impact during its brief life — critics never warmed to the series, and its swift cancellation this month suggests viewers didn’t either — but with that show gone, Marvel closes one chapter of its television legacy. Helstrom was the last live-action production of Marvel Television, the now-defunct company that gave us superhero shows on ABC, Fox, FX, Freeform, Netflix, and Hulu.

In just 50 words, a viral post illustrates how easily father-son relationships can be mistaken for daddy-son relationships!

Before he leaves the White House, President Donald Trump could follow the lead of other lame-duck presidents and use the time to issue federal pardons under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution. But can Trump self-pardon to protect himself from possible criminal prosecution? That question is a legal quagmire that came up nearly 50 years ago during former President Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal, and it’s coming up now as investigations into President Trump continue.

If Quibi wasn’t a brilliant experiment in streaming television, it certainly was a bold one. Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman thought Quibi and its “quick bites” of content were the future of television—the startup was even called NewTV at first—but the $2 billion venture couldn’t cut it in the streaming wars. Still, Katzenberg and Whitman did do some things right. Here’s a recap of their successes—including Quibi’s celebrity roster, its Emmy victories, and even its eleventh-hour move to TV sets.

Scandinavia isn’t all hygge and happiness. The region is also known for startlingly grisly crime dramas. Introducing “Nordic noir,” a crime fiction genre that has crossed over from the printed page to the screen—and from Europe to the States. If you want to dive into the genre, we’ve rounded up some prime Nordic noir examples currently streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. You might want to don your chunkiest sweater and light a fire in the fireplace, though—these series will chill you to the core.

LGBTQ+ representation in young adult literature is still on the rise, and this year’s crop of YA books shows signs the industry may finally be diversifying. Along with stories of white, cisgender teens are tales in which transgender, nonbinary, and intersex youth are the heroes and queer people of color get the spotlight.

On March 13, the American College of Surgeons recommended hospitals across the country minimize, postpone, or cancel all scheduled elective surgeries because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As many hospitals took that advice and shed certain procedures from the books, many transgender people were left with devastating setbacks as gender-affirming surgeries were canceled or indefinitely postponed as the question of which procedures are “elective” looms.

After declaring the violence epidemic against transgender people a “myth,” journalist and self-described “gay conservative” Chad Felix Greene is now attacking the idea of the use of “they” as a singular pronoun and criticizing the APA for endorsing the usage.

This Internet was abuzz this week that the news that Kristen Stewart’s character in the new big-screen reboot of Charlie’s Angels is “definitely gay.” How will viewers know that secret agent Sabina prefers the company of women? Apparently, there’s a “little moment” in the film. Elizabeth Banks, writer, director, and star of the film, tells PrideSource: So much of the time, “little moments” of LGBTQ visibility are all fans get. Think of Josh Gad’s “exclusively gay” LeFou sharing a two-second da

Color photography was developed, so to speak, with a definite bias toward lighter skin — a reality cinematographer Ava Berkofsky sought to overcome when she was hired to light season 2 of the HBO comedy Insecure.